pietra dura

Examples of pietra dura in the following topics:

• Architecture of the Mughal Period

  • It boasts the use of the pietra dura technique, with marble and even stone inlay ornamentation in geometrical and arabesque patterns on the facade of the mausoleum, and jali or latticed stone carving decoration.
  • At Agra, the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula, completed in 1628, was built entirely of white marble and decorated in elaborate pietra dura mosaic, an inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images.
  • The vision of Shah Jahan (1628—1658) introduced a delicate elegance and detail to Mughal architecture, illustrated in the Jama Masjid in Delhi, the Moti Masjid situated within the Agra Fort, and the Sheesh Mahal in the Lahore Fort, which makes spectacular use of pietra dura and complex mirror work.
  • The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal include calligraphy, abstract forms, verses from the Koran, and vegetable motifs, executed in paint, stucco, carvings, and pietra dura work.
  • This is an example of pietra dura inlay work and lattice carvings from the interior of the Taj Mahal.

• Dura-Europos

  • Dura-Europos was an ancient city where Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman cultures thrived in what is Syria today.
  • Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the right bank of the Euphrates river.
  • The Dura-Europos church also discovered at the site, is the earliest Christian house church, preserved by the same defensive fill that saved the synagogue.

• Early Jewish Art

  • While no figural art from first-century Roman Judea exists, the art on the Dura-Europos synagogue walls developed with no objection from the rabbis.
  • Dura-Europos, a border city between the Romans and the Parthians, was the site of an early Jewish synagogue dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244 CE.
  • Some think that this synagogue was painted in order to compete with the many other religions practiced in Dura-Europos.
  • The new (and considerably smaller) Christian church (Dura-Europos church) appears to have opened shortly before the surviving paintings were begun in the synagogue.

• Early Christian Art

  • The house church at Dura-Europos is the oldest known house church.
  • The plan of the house church at Dura-Europos illustrates how house churches elsewhere were designed.

• Sacred Objects

  • Jewish art was often used to decorate places of worship, such as the frescoes on the walls of Dura Europas Synagogue.