The course will concentrate on images of men and masculinity in Islamic art. What is masculinity in the Islamic context? Can we define it at all? Is the definition coherent? Is it merely a stereotype?

Is there a correlation between the literary image of masculinity and the painted one? Is the image dynamic? And is there really a difference between images of masculinity and femininity? 

These questions will be explored by analyzing  three categories of miniatures:

1)      Miniatures depicting pillars of the Islamic community such as the Prophet Muhammad and Joseph

2)      Miniatures depicting historical figures such as Mahmoud of Ghazna – the conqueror of India and the patron of the Shahname and Babur – founder of the Moghul Empire in India amd modern images of Saddam Husein

3)      Miniatures depicting mythological Persian heroes such as Rustam who tragically killed his own son, Bahram Gur –  the hedonist and Khusro – lover of Shirin.

Time permitting we’ll look at modern Islamic painting