Ardabil Carpet
The Ardabil Carpet is very deliberately designed to give the viewer a sense of paradise or Heaven and to be representative of Godly perfection. The geometric layout and pattern of visual elements creates an infinite and heavenly space to reflect God’s nature and invoke a divine presence. This was achieved by the use of color, pattern, perspective, and of a design which expands beyond the physical confines of the carpet itself. These aspects all combine to form an appropriate element of décor in the religious setting it was commissioned for.
Unique architectural styles of domed mosques and shrines, colorful patterned mosaics, and calligraphy are all common characteristics of Islamic art. Persian rugs or carpets are also another typical form of the Islamic arts, highly praised and sought after by westerners, perhaps due to their practical uses and exquisite designs. The most famous of Persian carpets are a twin pair knows as the Ardabil Carpets (Hillyer). William Morris, a notable designer from England’s Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century, said of the Ardabil Carpet, “a remarkable work of art… the design is of singular perfection and its size and splendor as a piece of workmanship do full justice to the beauty and intellectual qualities of the design.” (Wearden, 61)
The Ardabil Carpets are named after the town of Ardabil in north western Iran, in which the carpets were ordered for the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in that town and remained there for more than 300 years. The Shaykh was a Sufi leader of Islamic mysticism who died in 1334. In 1501, a descendant of his, Shah Isma’il, united Iran and founded the Safavid dynasty, and in the late 1530’s, his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp, enlarged the Safi al-Din shrine as well as commissioning the matching pair of carpets. (V&A Museum)
In the late 19th Century, the town of Ardabil suffered an earthquake and the damaged carpets were sold to British visitors, perhaps to pay for repairs to the Shaykh Safi al-Din’s shrine (V&A Museum). One of the carpets had its borders removed and was used to repair the other. This resulted in one larger and more complete carpet and a smaller incomplete carpet of just the inner design and a smaller border (Oleg, et al). The larger of the two carpets can now be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in England, and the smaller in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. (V&A Museum)
The Ardabil Carpet has many similar characteristics of an Iranian example; it has a rectangular form framed by linear bands, a central medallion framed by quarter medallions in the corners, and a field of symmetrical patterns cut off at the borders which give the illusion that the design could continue into infinity. (Oleg, et al) Aside from these characteristics common to many carpet designs, the Ardabil Carpet has many unique elements that distinguish it as a masterpiece of Persian carpets and Islamic art and design.
It is well know that the Persian and Arabian societies contributed greatly in the area of science and mathematics, even the numbers we use today; 1, 2, 3 etc., are Arabic characters. The word algebra derives from the Arabic word, “al-jebr”, which roughly means “reunification.” This correlation can relate to the notion of solving an equation as well as pointing to Islamic theology (Tillinghast, 294), and many theologians today relate mathematical patterns and multiplicity found in nature as evidence of divine intelligent creation. Given the notion of this mathematical theology, the meticulous and complex use of pattern and geometry in the Ardabil Carpet suggests the vision and nature of God.
In the center of the carpet is a 16 point geometrical medallion with lamps depicted as though hanging from each end on the carpet’s vertical axis. The central position of the medallion, use of whites and yellows against the rich blue background, and the lamps as literal imagery, suggests a source of light as the divine presence of God and central focus for providing a beacon for a more reverent lifestyle.
The field or background in which the central and corner medallions sit seems only to be a random floral motif, but is actually two sets of patterns laid on top one another. (Oleg, et al, V&A Museum) The complex geometry and infinite pattern of the field’s design contribute to the overall continuum of the other geometric elements in the carpets design. (Lockerbie) In addition to the sense of infinite space the field creates, the floral motif suggests a garden in paradise, and the intricate placement, colors, and scale of the objects in the field suggest the celestial bodies of the infinite heavens.
The four quarter medallions in the corners, along with the centre medallion comprise a larger element of design that extends beyond the physical limits of the carpet. The medallions are deliberately placed corresponding to a geometrical layout consisting of precise divisions of circles, squares, rectangles, and connecting and intersecting lines. A common device in Persian carpet design is the use of the implied extension of forms beyond the carpet’s borders. This device is used in order to represent an infinite space as well as a response to religious contemplation and reflection (Lockerbie).
The size of the Ardabil Carpets alone could have evoked a sense of a divine presence, especially when placed side by side under a high and massive dome at the Shaykh Safi al-Din shrine in Ardabil. Each carpet was originally 35 feet long by 17 feet 6 inches wide (Wearden, 61). Such obvious time, labor, and craftsmanship that must have gone into such a large undertaking only add to the splendor of the carpets design and holy environment.
A more unique feature of the Ardabil Carpet is the possible use of perspective. The most obvious size difference is of the two lamps on the vertical axis of the carpet. It is not known for sure what the reason for the discrepancy in size alludes to, but there are a few likely and less than likely explanations. Some believe that it was simply done to create perspective, so sitting at the end of the small lamp, the larger lamp at the other end would appear to be of the same size. However, there is no supporting evidence that this type of perspective was previously used in any Iranian carpets in the 1530’s when it was made. (V&A Museum) Others suggest faulty weaving due to a simple sketch rather than using a designed square chart in which each square represents one knot. Faulty weaving is unlikely due to the complexity and detail mirrored so exactly across the vertical axis (Wearden, 62). Another theory is that it is deliberately flawed to reflect the belief that perfection belongs only to God (V&A Museum). Others suggest that the discrepancy is symbolic of the Sun and Moon, or of Shaykh Safi al-Din and Shah Isma’il (Wearden, 62). Closer inspection reveals that not only are the lamps different in size, but other elements including the larger pendants around the center medallion on the side of the larger lamp are as well. This discovery lends more evidence to the intentional perspective theory. (Wearden, 63)
Despite lack of evidence in contemporary Iranian carpet designs of the period using this sort of perspective, it appears that visual perspective is the most likely explanation. Chances are that the designer knew that the carpet would be laid on the floor and that the guests sitting on it would likely be at one particular end. Knowing this gave the designer a designated ‘viewing point’ to construct the design from. This foreknowledge allowed for the use of perspective as well as consideration on how the carpet should be constructed. Any carpet is best viewed against the pile for the best representation of the carpets colors, this factor gave the carpet makers a specific end from which they should start weaving. This ensured that the carpet pile had the correct direction to correspond with the proper viewing perspective. (Wearden, 63)
Perhaps there was no Godly or religious reason for the designer to use perspective and instead the designer was just experimenting with new artistic devices. The idea of a deliberate flaw to imply that perfection is to be reserved for God is a possible scenario, or is it that the tendency for man to use perspective is compensation for mans’ inability to create perfection.
As much as the Ardabil Carpet as seen in the V&A Museum in London is spectacular and can still be analyzed for the otherworldly sensation it exudes, its current installation doesn’t lend justice to its splendor. Aside from the twin carpets separation on different sides of the globe, you cannot walk or sit on the carpet under a massive dome in an Islamic shrine in Iran. The V&A Museum did however revamp the carpets installation. Previously the carpet was displayed hanging vertical against a wall while half of it was draped on the ground (Tillinghast, 297). In 2006, it was placed on the floor in the center of the gallery and enclosed in a canopy surrounded by glass (Tillinghast, 297). Perhaps placed in a glass covered recess in the floor that could be walked on would have been a better choice, but maybe the technical considerations for the carpets preservation may not have allowed for such an installation. The best way to view the Ardabil carpets in all their glory is to visit the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in Ardabil, north western Iran, where modern carpet weavers were paid a large sum of money to reproduce the twin carpets for display in the Shrine at Ardabil (Iran Visitor Travel Guide) where they originally laid for over 300 years.
The arts and sciences are our attempt to recreate and understand what is divine; we are creators in the image of God and we long to replicate what we once knew before our fall. As humanity gains greater understanding of how science and mathematics are continually uncovering the mysteries found in the natural world, we will increasingly realize that the order and beauty of it all is divine and intentional. A worldwide singularity may never be achieved, but humanity will continue to use the arts in an attempt to regain our lost relationship with the divine. The Ardabil Carpets are a fine example in the many of man’s creations that show our desire to reach a heavenly paradise by using the physical elements and natural laws that we understand. With that in mind, our creations also reveal that we always fall short of divine perfection.
Bibliography
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