The Louvre Abu Dhabi – Part 2a Dawn of a New Era

Among Louvre Abu Dhabi’s stunning collections is the intersection of two great spiritual civilisations: those of the Egyptians and the Buddhists. Their encounter at the cultural and artistic crown of the United Arab Emirates is the result of historical convergences that were physically embodied in the Silk Routes that crisscrossed Eurasia.

Louvre Abu Dhabi focuses on cross-cultural interactions: the stories of human creativity that transcend individual cultures or civilisations, times or places.

Middle Ages 500 -1,500 AD

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.

A distant dialogue between Gandhara and Rome

Despite the distance that separated them, these two works reveal surprising similarities. The statue of the “Orator” (above, left), sculpted in Rome in the 1st century, draws on Greek art for its realistic portrayal. The statue of the bodhisattva, which was produced during the same period in Gandhara, the region where the Indo-Greek kingdoms formed following the conquests of Alexander the Great, also displays a concern for natural representation. The Greek tradition that inspired both sculptures is also apparent in the folds of their garments.

The art of living in the Roman world

The reign of the Roman emperor Augustus led to a period of peace and prosperity that would last almost two centuries. From the shores of the Atlantic to the banks of the Euphrates, Rome imposed its government, language and culture on a vast territory, in which peoples of different language, beliefs and customs mingled.

The Romanised elites of these lands largely embraced the same lifestyle, which was particularly reflected in domestic life by the construction of luxurious private villas adorned with sumptuous decorations and furnishings, complimented by the development of a taste for silver and glass tableware.

The strange and the marvellous

In the Middle Ages, the term “marvellous” was used to refer to the mysteries of the spiritual world in both Eastern and Western culture. Divine miracles combined with ancient legends to inspire the creation of all kinds of “marvellous” beings, an entire universe of fabulous creatures – some heavenly, some earthly, such as griffons, sphinxes, genies and fairies – which symbolised and embodied supernatural power. Elaborate images of these “marvels” began to appear in books and in the decorative arts of the educated and cultured elite of the time.

Dawn of a New Era

Between 300 and 600, most Eurasian civilisations faced political, economic and social transformations that deeply shook the established ancient order. Rome collapsed under the invasions of Germanic tribes, Han China lost its unity, and the Sassanids fell to Islamic conquests. Paradoxically, this troubled age was accompanied by great spiritual and philosophica development during which a mosaic of religions and beliefs transcended borders and promised salvation, thus ushering in a new era.

Universal Religions

Beginning around 2000 years ago, the spread of universal religions succeeded in reaching most of the civilized areas of Europe, Asia and Africa in just a few centuries. By addressing their message to all humanity without distinction, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam transcended local cultural characteristics and deeply transformed communities that had thrived during Antiquity.

These religions shared with Judaism the idea of monotheism, but differed on issues such as the representation of the divine. Their expansion was sometimes conflictual and brought them into contact with other beliefs, such as Hinduism in Asia, Confucianism and Taoism in China, Shintoism in Japan, and Animism in Africa. Religion had by then become a factor that unites communities and exerts an influence on intellectual and artistic activities across continents.

Divine light

Light has been symbolically linked with spirituality since Antiquity. This universal metaphor is common to all the great religions and philosophies that associate light with revelation.

Symbols of the divine

By alluding to beliefs or sacred episodes, religions draw on symbolic and abstract forms to suggest the presence of the absolute, thereby uniting a community of believers. Unlike the Buddhist and Christian worlds, which progressively evolved towards figurative representations, Islam proclaims the supremacy of the Word. Ancient societies in Mexico and the Greater Antilles developed representations to explain the origin of the universe and the relationship between the Earth and the Heavens.

Sacred Texts

The sacred texts cut across all religious texts on which the great religions are founded: those known as the Religions of the Book – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which share a common background – as well as the great religions of Asia such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Compiled into a corpus based on an oral tradition or recitation, these texts were recorded in writing in a progressive way.

Memorised and chanted, they were also intended for meditation and led their copyist on the path to enlightenment simply through the act of creation. Some of these manuscripts or calligraphic works embellished with geometric, floral or figurative decorations mobilised the brightest minds at the service of the faith.

The Religions of the Book

Known as the Pentateuch, the Torah is the sacred text of the Jews and their Written Law. The Bible is the sacred text of Christianity and comprises stories, biblical law, poems and liturgical chants.

It is divided into two sections: the Old Testament, which is shared with the Jewish people, and the New Testament, which recounts the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples.

The Quran is the holy book of Islam. “Uncreated”, it is a transcription of God’s Word, which was transmitted through the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad between 610 and his death in 632. This is the Sunni view of the Quran, which UAE is predominantly Sunni muslims.¹

Buddhism

Buddhism, one of the world’s largest religions, originated in India around 2,500 years ago and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. It focuses on understanding and overcoming suffering through practices like meditation and ethical conduct, with the ultimate goal of achieving enlightenment (Nirvana). 

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion centred on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is one of the world’s largest religions, with over 2.6 billion followers. Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah, whose coming was prophesied in the Old Testament. They believe he was crucified, died, and rose from the dead, offering salvation to humanity. Key beliefs include the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the concept of original sin, and the importance of the Bible, particularly the New Testament. 

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic religion, meaning Muslims believe in one God, called Allah in Arabic. It is based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Adherents are called Muslims, and they constitute the world’s second-largest religious population. 

The spirit of design in Islamic Art

In spite of a diversity of traditions, the arts of Islam all give priority to calligraphy and particularly to Arabic, the language of the Quran. The Islamic predilection for abstraction gave rise to stylised plant motifs and geometric forms that can be infinitely extended. Artists and craftsmen infused objects with spiritual force through the repetition of ornamental motifs and the interplay of forms and colours.

Must-See Exhibits

The museum’s growing collection of treasures includes important artworks and artefacts spanning the entirety of human history around the world. Via twenty galleries, journey through twelve chronological chapters as you travel through centuries of world civilisation.

Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion

Jin or Northern Song dynasty | China, Shanxi province, 1050-1150 | Carved, painted and gilded wood | Louvre Abu Dhabi

Tapestry of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar

Southern Netherlands | 1520 | Wool, silk | Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge

The figure in blue on the left is the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Although this monumental tapestry illustrates a biblical story, the characters are dressed in the fashions of the early 16th century. The tapestry is typical of those produced in northern Europe at this time. It describes the biblical story of the prophet Daniel with a narrative of a humanity that until the Middle Ages (and a little beyond) identified beauty with light and colour and this colour was always elementary, a symphony of reds, blues and gold, without the treatment of light and shade, where splendour is generated by the overall agreement.

Monumental Lion: An Acoustic Automaton (?)

Southern Spain or southern Italy | 1000-1200 | Bronze | Louvre Abu Dhabi

Created at the meeting point of the East and the West, the Monumental Lion is regarded as a product of Islamic Spain but could also be the work of itinerant artists in the part of Italy under Norman rule. Comparable to the Andalusian Pisa Griffin as a piece of animal statuary, the Monumental Lion displays a combination of accentuated stylisation and Arabic inscriptions that encapsulates the attraction and the role of the arts of Islam in Sicily, North Africa, and Spain in the late 11th and early 12th century, one of the most creative periods in their history.³ The tube in the animal’s mouth, the opening in its belly and its hollow body suggest that the object once produced a roaring sound and was thus an automaton.

Footnotes:

1. In Islamic theology, createdness of the Qurʾān (خلق القرآن, kḫalq al-qurʾān) is the doctrinal position that the Quran was created rather than having always existed and thus being “uncreated.”
   One of the main areas of debate in aqida (Muslim theology) was the divine attribute of kalam (lit. word, speech) revealing itself through waḥy “revelation”. Kalam is a counterpart to ‘aql (Greek logos, “word,” and thus “reason”). If the ʿaql/logos was part of God’s essence or nature, then the Qur’an must therefore not be created. On the other hand, the Qur’an is written in Arabic (human speech) in the Arabic script, neither of which is eternal.
   The dispute over which position was factual became a significant point of contention in early Islam. The rationalist philosophical school known as the Mu’tazilites held that if the Quran is God’s word, then logically, God “must have preceded his own speech”. The Mu’tazilites and the Jahmites negated all the attributes of God, and believed that God could not speak, hence the Quran was not the literal word of God. It was instead a metaphor for his will.
   In the Muslim world today, the opposite point of view—that the Quran is uncreated—is the accepted stance among Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims argue for the createdness of the Quran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranic_createdness
   
   Compare this with the New Testament: The Word Became Flesh
   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (john 1:1 NIV) ↩︎
2. https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/guanyin-in-the-desert-louvre-abu-dhabis-director-manuel-rabate-on-universal-faith-and-beauty/ ↩︎
3. https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/guanyin-in-the-desert-louvre-abu-dhabis-director-manuel-rabate-on-universal-faith-and-beauty/ ↩︎