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Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide range of lands, periods, and genres, Islamic art is a concept used first by Western art historians in the late 19th century. [2] Public Islamic art is traditionally non-representational, except for the widespread use of plant forms, usually in varieties of the spiralling arabesque.
Islamic calligraphy has also displayed figurative themes. Examples of this are anthropomorphic and zoomorphic calligrams. [40] Islamic calligraphy forms evolved, especially in the Ottoman period, to fulfill a function similar to figurative art. [41] When on paper, Islamic calligraphy is often seen with elaborate frames of Ottoman illumination. [41]
Calligraphy was a valued art form, and was regarded as both an aesthetic and moral pursuit. An ancient Arabic proverb illustrates this point by emphatically stating that "Purity of writing is purity of the soul." [6] Beyond religious contexts, Islamic calligraphy is widely used in secular art, architecture, and decoration. [7]
Many Islamic designs are built on squares and circles, typically repeated, overlapped and interlaced to form intricate and complex patterns. [1] A recurring motif is the 8-pointed star, often seen in Islamic tilework; it is made of two squares, one rotated 45 degrees with respect to the other.
Throughout Islamic history, depictions of Muhammad in Islamic art were rare. [13] Even so, there exists a "notable corpus of images of Muhammad produced, mostly in the form of manuscript illustrations, in various regions of the Islamic world from the thirteenth century through modern times". [34]
In fact, it has been linked in Arabic culture to various fields such as religion, art, architecture, education and craftsmanship, which in turn have played an important role in its advancement. [3] Although most Islamic calligraphy is in Arabic and most Arabic calligraphy is Islamic, the two are not identical.
Islamic art is made up of these three separate but complementary fields. They are arranged in a three-tiered hierarchy, with geometry at the button. [21] This is frequently indicated by its use on the lower portions of walls or floors, as in the example above.
Islamic art was widely imported and admired by European elites during the Middle Ages. [5] There was an early formative stage from 600-900 and the development of regional styles from 900 onwards. Early Islamic art used mosaic artists and sculptors trained in the Byzantine and Coptic traditions. [6]