Gur-e Amir Mausoleum, 15th century.
Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

 

 

There were also new tendencies in the ornamentation; plant motifs predominate rather than geometrical ones. They were composed of coloured bricks on vast portions of walls or around the minaret towers. The new style also affected the ornamental inscriptions. Sentences with geometrical designs are inscribed on the outside surface of the edifices. Friezes and borders are also used with inscriptions in ligatural lettering (souls). These architectural ensembles are a remarkable accomplishment of this epoch.

 

Many of them are striking because of the grandiose character of their forms, the precise projection of architectural volumes such as the Registan at Samarkand, largely rebuilt in the 17th century. Others, such as Shah-i-Zinda are picturesque compositions with groups of little mausoleums and mosques erected in remembrance of a venerated person, along a narrow lane on a hillside in place of the old Aphrasiab. This ensemble, from the spectator’s point of view, is seen as a new combination of volumes sometimes unexpected. The picturesque impression is emphasised by the richness of the polychrome ornamentation of the surface.

 

The monumental architecture of Central Asia of the 16th and 17th centuries brought very few changes to the outside aspects of the edifices. But the interior architecture, on the contrary, improved with the elaboration of a new type of vault.

 

The interior decoration of the edifices in Bukhara is particularly rich. The cupolas seem separated from the walls by bay windows giving light or by stalactite corbelling that seems to float on a geometrical trellis-work complex that decorated the trompes.

 

The earth tiles that adorn the surface, even if they are not of the same quality and have repetitive decorative designs, continued to play an important role in the architectural decoration. But, as in the past, the artistic trades linked to architecture are of high quality.

 

The ceilings, doors, columns, panels and tombstones demonstrate high artistic form, particularly in the wood and stone sculptures. Still faithful in many points of the process of composition to the previous epochs, architects find new solutions for urban construction. Sometimes two monumental edifices were raised face to face such as the Kalyan Mosque and the Arab-Ata Madrasah, the Madori-khan and Abdullahkhan Madrasahs, the Ulugh Beg and Abdul Aziz Madrasahs at Bukhara.