The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

above: Piers in the prayer hall of Ibn Tulun’s mosque.
above right: Capital of colonnette.
36 The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
facing the sahn, each brick pier, like those at Samarra, has an engaged
colonnette in each corner. The capitals of these colonnettes consist of
vine-leaf motifs which also form the scrollwork in the delicate band of
stucco ornament framing the face of each arch, and forming an articulating
band around the top of each pier above the capitals. The solid
mass of the arcades is further relieved where the spandrels of each arch
are pierced by a window framed with colonnettes. These are flanked
by rosettes or square panels with reticulated patterns. Beneath the cornice,
sandwiched between two horizontal mouldings, a string course
of octagonally framed rosettes provides a continuous frieze around the
top of the sahn arcading. A corresponding frieze of circles set within
recessed squares can be found on the exterior walls under the parapet
where a striking band of crenellation lines the perimeter walls with
merlons like serried ranks of soldiers standing arm in arm and shoulder
to shoulder. All four walls of the mosque are pierced by over 120
pointed arched windows containing delicate filigree grilles from
many periods. The style of these windows is very close to those in
Amr’s mosque (of Tahir’s reconstruction in 827), although Creswell
identified only four as original, noting their similarity to the compasswork
design in the windows at the Great Mosque at Damascus.
The stucco decoration in the mosque is significant because it
represents something of a milestone in Islamic art, suggesting a new
grammar of ornament that extends well beyond the confines of architecture.
Like the broader architectural masses, the detail is an import
from Samarra. Stucco is a form of plasterwork using an aggregate of