ARTH 428 - The Sultan’s Palace

Credits: 4

This course examines palaces and palatial cities of the Islamic world, including the desert palaces of the eastern Mediterranean, the royal cities of Baghdad, Samarra, and Cairo, the Alhambra in Spain, Topkapi in Istanbul, the Persian palaces of the city of Isfahan, Emperor Akbar’s palatial city of Fatehpur Sikri and Shah Jahan’s seat in Delhi. We will endeavor to understand how these structures were used during the time that they were built and served as royal seats, but will also consider the ways in which the space of the palace has been constructed through Orientalist literature, art, and scholarship. Prerequisite: Any 100- or 200- level course in Art History, or by permission of the instructor.