Professor Pruitt will present her research into the Fatimid dynasty’s rebuilding of Jerusalem in ca. 1035. Focusing on the restorations of the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, she argues for a productive outcome to the cataclysmic destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by the “mad” caliph, al-Hakim.
About the presenter:
Jennifer Pruitt is an Assistant Professor in Islamic Art History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research interests include art and architecture in the medieval Islamic world; the role of the caliphate and sectarian identity in architectural production; the status of Christian art in medieval Islam; and cross-cultural exchange in the medieval world. She is also interested in artistic production in the wake of the Arab Spring. Pruit is currently completing her book manuscript, Building the Caliphate: Construction, Destruction, and Sectarian Identity in Fatimid Architecture (909-1031).
