Diana Darke: How Syrian Art and Architecture Helped Shape Europe’s Romanesque and Gothic Styles

Join author Diana Darke for this illustrated talk exploring the historical and artistic connections between Syria and Europe. The presentation begins with the Christian art and architecture still extant on Syria’s hillsides, where thousands of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-century churches can be studied and explored. The Umayyads, the first Islamic dynasty, inherited this Syrian legacy in the seventh and eighth centuries from their capital, Damascus. This heritage shaped the earliest examples of Islamic art and architecture, including Jerusalem's iconic Dome of the Rock and Damascus's Great Umayyad Mosque, both built for new Muslim patrons with the help of leading Christian craftsmen.

When the Umayyads later established their dynasty in al-Andalus (present-day Spain and Portugal), where Islamic art and architecture reached its peak in the early medieval period, the roles reversed: top Muslim craftsmen worked for new Christian patrons during the Catholic reconquest of Spain, transferring their skills and decorative repertoires into Latin Europe.

This lecture is generously supported by the Detroit Institute of Arts Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures, The Templeton Religion Trust, James Madison College at Michigan State University, the Michigan State University Muslim Studies Program, Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University, and The Michigan State University Broad Art Museum.

Image: Great Mosque of Damascus, 708–715 CE