id:			423613
accession number:	2021.5
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2021.5
updated:		2023-05-26 11:03:22.764000

Column Base, c. 960–76. Spain, Cordoba, Spanish Umayyad period (756–1031). Marble; overall: 15 x 20.5 x 20.5 cm (5 7/8 x 8 1/16 x 8 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2021.5

title:				Column Base
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 960–76
creation date earliest:		960
creation date latest:		976
current location:		116 Islamic
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

---

culture:	Spain, Cordoba, Spanish Umayyad period (756–1031)
technique:	Marble
department:	Islamic Art
collection:	Islamic Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Overall: 15 x 20.5 x 20.5 cm (5 7/8 x 8 1/16 x 8 1/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	
	translation:	
	remark:		

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation)
	opening date:   2021-05-21T04:00:00
	<i>Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

---

PROVENANCE

	(Sam Fogg, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: –2021
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2021–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact:
In the mid-1800s the ruins of Madinat al-Zahra were rediscovered and the source of great fascination as people imagined a palace like that in the stories of 1001 Nights.

digital description:
This base comes from the palatial city of Madinat al-Zahra near Cordoba (Spain) which was begun by caliph Abd al-Rahman III (r. 912–61) around 936. Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula were then under Islamic rule and experienced a cultural flowering. The city, destroyed already in 1010, was the most magnificent palace complex in Europe at the time.

wall description:
This base comes from Madinat al-Zahra, the “shining city,” a palatial complex near Cordoba, Spain, that symbolized the power and cultural sophistication of the Umayyads in the Iberian Peninsula. The palace was built under Abd al-Rahman III (r. 912–61) and his son, al-Hakam II (r. 961–76). The expert carving reflects influences from Syria, the homeland of the Spanish Umayyads, as well as local and ancient motifs. On the rounded column base, two bands of stylized waves frame an Arabic inscription asking for blessings upon the unnamed overseer of this part of the building project.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

	Strong, Meghan E. “Art of the Islamic World.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>61, no. 3 (Summer 2021): 28-30.
	page number: 	Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 30.
	url:		

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2021.5/2021.5_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2021.5/2021.5_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2021.5/2021.5_full.tif