Madrasa of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun
| Name of structure: | Madrasa of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun |
| Extended name of structure: | Qalawun Complex |
| Type of structure: | Madrasa (schoolroom) |
| Country or main area: | Egypt |
| Region within country or main area: | |
| City or area within region: | Cairo |
| Date of structure: | 1285 |
| Century of structure 1: | 13 AD |
| Century of structure 2: | |
| Specific place of mosaic: | Mihrab and tomb |
| Brief descriptive contents of mosaic: | The mihrab of the madrasa has a horse-shoe arch similar to the mausoleum but is smaller and less elaborate than that of the mausoleum and its conch is marked with glass mosaics and mother-of-pearl (MOP), rather than marble mosaics. At the base of the hood above a border of mother-of-pearl rosettes, is a vessel from which emanate vine scrolls in shades of green against a gold ground with MOP grape clusters. In each of the spandrels the same motif repeated. Qala’un’s tomb had been lavishly decorated with multi-coloured marble panelling, marble mosaic and turquoise blue glass colonnettes in the arcades of the mihrab. |
| Date of mosaic: | 1285 |
| Century of mosaic 1: | 13 AD |
| Century of mosaic 2: | |
| Silver tessera at site: | No |
| Gold tessera at site: | Yes |
| Colour tessera at site: | Yes |
| Were other materials found at site (i.e., glass cakes)? | |
| Has analysis been done? | |
| Samples taken from where? | |
| Excavation and restoration campaigns: | |
| Bibliography of mainly technical resources: | Abdulfattah, Iman R. and Mamdouh Mohamed Sakr, ‘Glass Mosaics in a Royal Mamluk Hall: Context, Content, and Interpretation’, in Doris Behrens-Abouseif, ed., The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria – Evolution and Impact (Bonn: Bonn University Press, 2012), 203-222, p. 203 Behrans-Abouseif, Doris, Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction (Leiden: Brill, 1969), p. 98 Blair, Sheila S. and Jonathan M. Bloom, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 (New York: Yale University Press, 1994), p. 80 Kenney, Ellen, ‘Mixed Metaphors: Iconography and Medium in Mamluk Glass Mosaic Decoration’, Artibus Asiae, 66.2 (2006), 175-200, pp. 178-9 |
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