Reading Response #1: Due Sunday September 20 5 PM

What associations with the idea of “ornament” did you start the readings with?

What do we learn about the place of ornament in histories of art from this cluster of texts? What were some arguments or claims that surprised or intrigued you?

How might you characterize the conversation that is occurring between these readings? Many of the authors for this week are historians of Islamic art – how do they characterize the position of ornament in discussions of Islamic art history? How might the authors’ positions and the dates of their publications, contexts of production, and intended audiences have shaped these various accounts of ornament?