The story of Islamic Art

Islamic art played a major role in building ancient civilization on Islamic foundations, where it worked to spread values and morals through distinctive graphics and to transfer the country’s culture and civilization to all parts of the world.

Definition of Islamic art

Islamic art is not the art of one particular religion, time, place or medium. Instead, it spans about 1,400 years, covers many lands and populations, and includes a range of artistic fields including architecture, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, textiles, and more.

Islamic religious art differs from Christian religious art in that it is non-figurative because many Muslims believe that the depiction of the human form is idolatry, and therefore a sin against God, forbidden in the Qur’an. Elements of calligraphy and architecture are given important religious significance in Islamic art.

Islamic art developed from several sources: Roman art, early Christian art, Byzantine styles, Sasanian art of pre-Islamic Persia; Central Asian styles brought by various nomadic invasions, and Chinese influences appear on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles. Characteristics of Islamic art

Most Islamic art forbids depictions of living beings and instead uses other design components. Calligraphy, or the art of writing, is one of the most important of these. Calligraphy in Islamic art is considered ornamental and symbolic because it is associated with the idea of conveying the word of God to people. Also prominent images are leaf or plant images, in which leaves, vines or other plants are displayed in decorative ways.

Islamic art is strongly influenced by religious rules, especially those that prohibit the depiction of people and animals. Therefore, the influence of geometry and calligraphy is evident in Islamic art. Islamic art changed over time as different dynasties took control and architectural styles entered and went out of fashion. Choose just one of the time periods discussed in this lesson, such as Islamic art of the Umayyad period, Abbasid period, period, or Safavid dynasty. Do your own research on this time period, and see what you can learn about the art and architecture of that time. Write a research essay or annotated timeline explaining your findings.

Elements of Islamic art

In research on Islamic art, we find recurring elements in Islamic art, such as the use of stylized floral, botanical, or geometric designs in a repetition known as arabesque. Arabesques are often used in Islamic art to refer to God’s transcendent, indivisible, and infinite nature. They are deliberately presented as a show of humility by artists who believe that only God can produce perfection.

Arabesque inlay at Mughal Fort Agra, India: Repeating geometric designs, known as arabesques, are used in Islamic art to symbolize God’s transcendent, indivisible, and infinite nature.

Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focused on the depiction of patterns and calligraphy, rather than human or animal figures, because many Muslims believe that the depiction of the human figure is idolatry and thus a sin against God forbidden in the Qur’an.

However, depictions of the human form and animals can be found throughout all eras of Islamic secular art.

In a religion in which pictorial representations are considered an act of idolatry, it is no wonder that the word and its artistic representation have become an important aspect of Islamic art. The oldest form of Arabic calligraphy is Kufic script. Besides Quranic verses, other inscriptions include poetic verses and inscriptions denoting ownership or donation.

Calligraphy in Islamic Art

The oldest form of Arabic calligraphy is the Kufic script, which is known for its angular shape. Arabic is read from right to left and only consonants are written. The black ink in the above image from the ninth century Qur’an indicates the consonants to the reader. The red dots that appear on the page indicate vowels.

However, calligraphic design is not limited to the book in Islamic art. Calligraphy is found in several different types of art, such as architecture for example, the interior of the Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem, circa 691), features calligraphic inscriptions of verses from the Qur’an as well as from additional sources as in medieval Europe, may be included Religious inductions such as Quranic verses in secular objects, especially coins, tiles, metalwork and a variety of Islamic motifs.