Presentation by Christiane Gruber of her New Book, The Praiseworthy One
When and Where
Description
The Praiseworthy One: Devotional Images of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Traditions
by Christiane Gruber, Professor and Associate Chair in the History of Art. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
This presentation explores a number of paintings of the Prophet Muhammad produced in Persian and Turkish lands from the fourteenth century to the modern day. Ranging from veristic to abstract, these images represent Muhammad’s individual traits, primordial luminosity, and veiled essence. Their pictorial motifs reveal that artists engaged in abstract thought and turned to symbolic motifs in order to imagine Muhammad, the “praiseworthy” Prophet and Messenger of Islam. The talk is related to Gruber’s recently published book, The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images. (Indiana University Press, 2019).