Giovanni Curatola. The Dragon. From China to Islam

Giovanni Curatola
Giovanni Curatola is a professor at the University of Udine, Italy and is the author of more than one hundred scientific publications on Islamic art. He curated the first general exhibition on Islamic Art in Italy in 1993. He also curated the exhibition al-Fann. Art from the Islamic Civilization. The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, and, together with the curator Sue Kaoukji, he organised the loan of 250 objects from the Collection to the MFAH (Houston, USA). In 2014 he held summer courses on Islamic Art at the AUK, Kuwait.
The Dragon. From China to Islam
One of the most interesting periods of Islamic art, during which the transmission of new iconographies was really impressive, was the 13th-14th centuries, after the invasion of the Mongolian tribes from the East and the establishment of new rulers: the Ilkhanids. But the history of the dragon (and the snake, the whale and other animals….) is a very ancient one. The aim of this talk is to show that the images coming from the East along the “Silk Road” filled a gap in the iconography of Islam, and that the adaptation of old descriptions (such as those found in the Shahnama) to the newely discovered repertoire remained substantially unchallenged until the present time – making this a fascinating tale.