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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EDGE"/> <meta charset="utf-8"/> <meta name="Generator" content="Xara HTML filter v.9.0.0.23"/> <meta name="XAR Files" content="index_htm_files/xr_files.txt"/> <title>Albanian Art | Robert Elsie</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <meta name="description" content="This website is devoted to Albanian art in the broadest sense."/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_fonts.css"/> <script></script> <script>document.documentElement.className="xr_bgh0";</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_main.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/custom_styles.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_text.css"/> <script src="index_htm_files/roe.js"></script> <script src="index_htm_files/replaceMobileFonts.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/ani.css"/> <style> #xr_xr {top:0px;} </style> <style type="text/css"> html, body { background-image: url(hg.jpg); background-attachment: fixed; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: center 50px; background-color: #FFFAED; } </style > </head> <body class="xr_bgb0"> <div class="xr_ap" id="xr_xr" style="width: 920px; height: 2838px; left:50%; margin-left: -460px; text-align: left; top:0px;"> <script>var xr_xr=document.getElementById("xr_xr")</script> <div id="xr_td" class="xr_td"> <div class="xr_ap xr_xri_" style="width: 920px; height: 2838px;"> <span class="xr_ar" style="left:185px;top:350px;width:735px;height:2488px; background-color: #FFFFFF;"></span> <span class="xr_ar" style="left:0px;top:350px;width:171px;height:2488px; background-color: #FFFFFF;"></span> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2821.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:50px;width:920px;height:300px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <div class="xr_txt xr_s0" style="position: absolute; left:460px; top:27px; width:604px; height:10px;"> <span class="xr_tc xr_s0" style="left: -333.61px; top: -14.26px; width: 667px;">| <a href="http://www.elsie.de" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Robert Elsie</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianart.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Art</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianhistory.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL History</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianlanguage.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Language</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianliterature.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Literature</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianphotography.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Photography</a> | <a href="http://www.elsie.de/en/contact.html" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Contact</a> |</span> </div> </div> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/1794.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:2759px;width:920px;height:2px;"/> <div class="xr_txt xr_s1" style="position: absolute; left:235px; top:415px; width:634px; height:10px;"> <h2 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_2 xr_s2" style="top: -33.59px;margin:0;">Albanian Art</h2> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s3" style="left: 20px; top: 9.58px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""><a href="index_de.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" > Deutsch </a></span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s5" style=""> </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s6" style="">| </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s5" style=""> </span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s3" style="left: 147.37px; top: 9.58px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""> </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""><a href="index_al.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Shqip</a></span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s7" style="top: 90.52px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s8" style="">This website is devoted to Albanian art in the broadest sense</span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="">, that it to say, to </span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 119.66px;">the various artistic endeavours undertaken by Albanians or connected in some </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 148.8px;">way with Albania and/or the Albanians. It does not purport to provide a </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 177.94px;">comprehensive history of Albanian art, but simply to present aspects and </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 207.08px;">phenomena that might be of interest to the international reader/viewer.</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 629.49px;">Art forms in Albania were moulded by traditional Albanian folk culture, by </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 658.63px;">early Byzantine traditions and by the country's inclusion in the Ottoman </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 687.77px;">Empire for five centuries until 1912. Among the earliest works of architecture of </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 716.91px;">artistic value in Albania are the many old Byzantine churches such as those in </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 746.05px;">Berat (ca. 1300) and southern Albanian regions of Gjirokastra and Kor莽a, and </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 775.19px;">venerable mosques such as the Mirahor Mosque in Kor莽a (1495), the Sultan </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 804.32px;">Mosque (1492) and the Lead Mosque (1553-1554) in Berat, the Murad Mosque </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 833.46px;">in Vlora (1537-1542), the Naziresha Mosque in Elbasan (pre-1599), the Lead </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 862.6px;">Mosque in Shkodra (1773-1774) and the Et鈥檋em Bey Mosque in Tirana (1793-</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 891.74px;">1794). Less well known are the superbly elegant Ottoman-style vaulted bridges, </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 920.88px;">few of which have survived the centuries. Not much remains either of the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 950.02px;">many early Catholic churches of the north. Notable in style for private </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 979.16px;">dwellings are the lofty mansions of Gjirokastra, the windowed homes in the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1008.29px;">Mangalem quarter of Berat (The City of a Thousand Windows), and the lonely </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s9" style="top: 1037.43px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s10" style="">kullas </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="">(fortified stone towers) planted here and there in isolated regions of </span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1066.57px;">northern Albania and Kosovo.</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1124.85px;">Following mosaics and murals from antiquity and the mediaeval period, the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1153.99px;">first concrete representations in painting were icons in the Byzantine Orthodox </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1183.13px;">tradition. The earliest Albanian icons date from the late thirteenth century and </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1212.27px;">there is general agreement that they reached their artistic zenith in the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1241.4px;">eighteenth century. Among the greatest protagonists of Albanian iconic art </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1270.54px;">were Onufri and David Selenica. The museums of Berat, Kor莽a and Tirana have </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1299.68px;">good collections of the few icons that remain. In the Ottoman period other </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1328.82px;">painting was limited mostly to folk art and to the often exuberant decorations </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1357.96px;">of mosques. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1416.24px;">Modern painting and sculpture arose in the first half of the twentieth century </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1445.37px;">and reached a modest zenith in the 1930s and 1940s when the first major art </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1474.51px;">exhibitions were held in the country. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1532.79px;">The traditions of Albanian art that evolved up until the Second World War </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1561.93px;">were largely destroyed by the communist regime that took power in Albania in </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1591.07px;">November 1944. In the following years, some artists endeavoured to conform to </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1620.21px;">the new doctrine of socialist realism. Others fled or ceased all creative activity. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1649.35px;">Political extremism in 1966-1967, inspired by the cultural revolution in </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1678.48px;">Albania鈥檚 only political ally at the time, communist China, put fear into the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1707.62px;">hearts of all Albanians of creative talent. Some well-known artists were </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1736.76px;">imprisoned and many other interned in remote villages for said bourgeois or </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1765.9px;">reactionary proclivities. Countless works of art disappeared. Religion was </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1795.04px;">officially banned in Albania in 1967 and century-old icons, old paintings, books </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1824.18px;">and manuscripts were left to rot in cellars or abandoned church buildings. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1853.32px;">People were simply too afraid to preserve and take care of them. At that time </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1882.45px;">there were about 1,050 mosques, 200 Bektashi <span class="Normaler_Text xr_s10" style="">tekkes </span>and mausolea and about </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1911.59px;">400 Catholic and Orthodox churches in the country, most of which were torn </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1940.73px;">down or converted for other usage. Among the noted victims of this great </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1969.87px;">cultural tragedy were early mosques and churches of substantial cultural value </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1999.01px;">that had been meticulously restored by Albanian specialist but a few years </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2028.15px;">earlier. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2086.43px;">Despite the many losses from war and wanton destruction, Albania is still rich </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2115.56px;">in art, and this website hopes to attract the intention of the reader/view to </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2144.7px;">several aspects of it.</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2202.98px;">Robert Elsie </span> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2822.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:235px;top:680px;width:450px;height:335px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2823.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:235px;top:445px;width:20px;height:14px;"/> </div> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2544.png" alt="Robert Elsie Albanian Art" title="" style="left:315px;top:209px;width:295px;height:118px;"/> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2825.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:362px;top:445px;width:20px;height:13px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_txt x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s11" style="position: absolute; left:13px; top:448px; width:87px; height:10px;"> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s12" style="top: -25.2px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Art</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 19.18px;margin:0;"><a href="painting1.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Albanian</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 46.16px;margin:0;"><a href="painting1.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Painting</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 85.15px;margin:0;"><a href="painting2.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >European</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 112.13px;margin:0;"><a href="painting2.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Painting</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 151.11px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/costumes/index.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Costumes</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s13" style="top: 190.09px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/graves/index.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Grave Art</a></h3> </div> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2679.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:528px;width:171px;height:1px;"/> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2679.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:594px;width:171px;height:1px;"/> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2680.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:631px;width:171px;height:2px;"/> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2680.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:459px;width:171px;height:2px;"/> <div class="xr_group"> <div class="xr_txt xr_s0" style="position: absolute; left:235px; top:2779px; width:222px; height:10px;"> <span class="xr_tl xr_s0" style="top: -14.26px;"><a href="http://www.elsie.de/impressum.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Impressum</a> | <a href="http://www.elsie.de/datenschutz.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Datenschutzerkl盲rung</a></span> </div> </div> <div id="xr_xo0" class="xr_ap" style="left:0; top:0; width:920px; height:100px; visibility:hidden; z-index:3;"> <a href="" onclick="return(false);" onmousedown="xr_ppir(this);"> </a> </div> <div id="xr_xd0"></div> </div> </div> </div>  <script>xr_htm();repMobFonts();window.addEventListener('load', xr_aeh, false);</script> </body> </html>