Abstract :
This article outlines the tradition of Islamic figural sculpture from the early 8th c. to 1300, citing both surviving examples and the record of those many examples that no longer survive from areas as diverse as Syria-Palestine, Iraq, N. Africa, Afghanistan, Iran, Andalusia and Anatolia, in relief and in the round, figurines and larger sculptures in a variety of materials. Attention is drawn to the ‘statue of the lancer figure’ that was placed on top of al-Qubbah al-Khadra, the hall of audience of the Caliph, Abu Ja’far al Mansur, in Bagdad and which remained in-situ until 941 and which was recorded by Ibrahim b. ‘Ali al-Khutabi in the 10th c. as, ‘the crown of Bagdad, a guidepost for the region and one of the great achievements of the Abbasids’. A clearly visible landmark sculpture and a Caliphal model for Islamic rulers in the use in public, as well as in private spaces, of sculpture.
