Danish Art Pottery. Mikhail Vrubel and Ceramics. Masterpieces of Russian painting. In the final decade of the 19th century, the phenomenon of Russian culture called Abramtsevo connected Vrubel's life and work with the name of Savva Mamontov.
This period and place marked the apogee of Renaissance universalism in the work of Vrubel, a philosopher, artist, painter, decorator, illustrator, sculptor and architect. In 1889, Mamontov opened a ceramics workshop in Abramtsevo, where craftsmen could create glazed ceramics, or majolica. When the Mamontov family purchased its estate, the kilns of the Abramtsevo home were in ruins. Some of the surviving multi-colored tiles from the 18th century were preserved in Mamontov's collection. Perhaps the initiative came from Mamontov's desire to restore the artistic traditions of ceramics and return the kilns of Abramtsevo to their former beauty. The Tiles of Infinity. The intricate tilework on that building inspired him to dig into the history of Islamic art, and eventually to prove that a number of medieval Islamic designs had at their heart patterns that modern mathematicians have only recently been able to describe.
In fact, the young physics whiz found on Islamic buildings the very geometric forms identified by British mathematician Sir Roger Penrose as the foundation elements for elaborate, non-repeating patterns. Lu’s research shows that these patterns had been applied long before Penrose’s discovery—in fact, more than 500 years earlier. The State Hermitage Museum: Digital Collection.
History of ceramic. The Potters of Islam. The Potters of Islam "The brilliance of their work reflects the richness of their civilization" Written by John LuterPhotographed by Freer Gallery.
A History of the World - Explorer.