Publication Date
AD 1727
Publication Place
-
Al-Khalili Family Trust - Nasser D. Collection. Al-Khalili Islamic Art
Subject
Paper, leather binding
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
41.2 × 57.5 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
ARC.pt 77
Record ID
object;EPM;uk;Mus22;18;ar
Library Location
Al-Khalili Family Trust - Nasser D. Collection. Al-Khalili Islamic Art
Date
AD 1727
Notes
This large volume is called (A Project for the History of Architecture through Pictures of Many Important Buildings of Antiquity and Foreign People) by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723) and was published in 1725, a few years after his death. Fischer was an Austrian architect and in 1705 was appointed architect to the imperial court of Joseph I. The book was considered the first attempt to document the history of architecture. In the world, it includes nine Islamic buildings among its collection of thirteen foreign buildings. The drawn plans of Iranian and Ottoman buildings are known to come from travellers' pictorial information, but the addition of a view of Medina and a view of Mecca are notable for their authenticity. Under each image there is an explanatory text engraved in German and French, and it may be the first presentation of Mecca and Medina in a European work. The plan of Mecca includes some well-known buildings in the Haram, which are identified by identifying phrases, but there is still confusion about what they are, although the general plan was taken from Ottoman photographs that were available at the time, and many of them are incorrect, perhaps in an attempt to foreignize the plans. The cityscape, on the other hand, is almost entirely inaccurate and could have been drawn based on oral information.
Sample Text
“An architectural photo album including views of Mecca and Medina” within Discover Islamic Art Collections. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;uk;Mus22;18;ar
