Historicism in the field of Islamic art studies, a critique of the book “The Ilkhanid Architecture in Natanz”

The way of looking at art in its historical context seems to be obvious among historians of European art. From the second half of the eighteenth century, where the institution of art history was established as a professional and academic discipline, the ongoing changes in artwork were considered as a function of changes in “mentality” and collective or individual motivation in any age and period. In the emergence and development of this view, which is called historicism, German idealism plays an undeniable role. Of course, the European mentality governing the institution of art history examined only European art with a historical reading. Because they, as a result of Hegel’s teachings, viewed non-Europeans as essentially lacking in the “historicity” attribute and so their art was studied by a non-historical and non-historical approach titles and classifications such as primitive art, decorative art and traditional art. But historicism finally came to the domain in the second generation of scholars of modern studies of Islamic art, with a settled approach. The Ilkhanid architecture book in Natanz is a striking example of this study approach. Considering this book is very important in terms of understanding the methodology of such studies.