Preview

Creation Year
January 1967
Image ID
B.043
Alternate Identifier
B02.043
Subcollection
B: Mosques of Isfahan
Abstract
Iwan façade of the Muffarid Madrasa, in the Friday Mosque of Isfahan.
Description
The southwest iwan façade of the Muzaffarid madrasa, one of the later additions to the Friday mosque. "The Muzaffarid madrasa, locally known as the iwan of Umar (Suffa-i Umar), was erected on the southeast side of the Friday mosque in the fourteenth century and is particularly remarkable for its superb mosaic faience decoration in floral and geometric designs, compared by art historians to the works of the architects of the Timurid court. An inscription on the soffit of the iwan of the madrasa gives the name of the Muzaffarid Sultan Mahmud (reg. 1358-1374) as the patron of the addition to the Friday Mosque. The original extant section of the building consists of an iwan leading to a rectangular hall with transverse vaulting. The central bay of the qibla hall is covered with a lantern and encompasses a tile mosaic mihrab with muqarnas hood. While hazarbaf tiles in geometric patterns enliven the soffit of the iwan, the muqarnas above the mihrab is revetted with light blue, dark blue, black and white tiles as well as unglazed tiles."
References
"Masjid-i Jami'" Archnet. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://archnet.org/sites/1621 .
Image Notes
Photograph created 1967. Photograph processed September 1967. Formerly cataloged as B.02.043. Notes written on the slide or index: Friday Mosque.
Image Format
35 mm slide
Geographic Reference
Isfahan, Iran
Keywords
Iwan, Arches, Pointed Arches, Tiles, Inscription, Quranic Inscription, Arabic Inscription, Kufic Script, Fourteenth Century, Muzaffarid, Muzaffarid Madrasa