ABSTRACT
In The Transformation of Islamic Art During the Sunni Revival, Yasser Tabbaa satisfies his primary objective of exploring how theological and political developments during the Sunni revival contributed to contemporaneous transformations in Islamic art and architecture. He not only examines how art was transformed in a variety of mediums, but also demonstrates how political, religious, and cultural forces can imbue artistic forms with new meaning, thus delivering an original and engaging argument of critical importance to the field of Islamic art and architecture as a whole. His essential thesis in The Transformation of Islamic Art is that political and religious conflict stand at the very foundation of change in medieval Islamic art and architecture. One of the main challenges Tabbaa faced in writing The Transformation of Islamic Art was the lack of surviving evidence. A significant portion of his argument is based on confirming the centrality of Baghdad to artistic production during the medieval period.
