Culture, Cognizance and Art Nexus and Connotations in the Muslim Context

Abstract

Society and culture are interlinked that define ways of life of a community, including its rituals and art works. The current study concentrates on undercurrents of the Muslim culture, unique in the sense that it was garnered by the quest for knowledge. The desire was so potent that it originated a path to reconcile certain prohibitions or limitations, imposed by religious authorities on the making of images, but led to evolve a style of art that could not come at clash with the interdictions. It emerged so strong rooted that could withstand vicissitudes of many different influences, so, lasted for a century. Its parameters were clear even at its initiation. Though, a bit deviation from religious boundaries occurred in its earliest stages due to the variety of influences it encountered. But quickly shaped its dimensions and evolved independent aesthetics of its own along with autonomous style of image making, not based just on corporeal vision but on intellectual cerebration. In this context substrate of Muslim culture will be sorted out in this paper, along with concentration upon the early wall paintings of Umayyad period and a few miniatures of Abbasid era, linked with knowledge and learning.