Arabesque In Islamic Art

Arabesque in Islamic Art

FDN 132

Layla Hussain (2174)

Archana Raj (2200)

Section 1

22nd February, 2015 INTRODUCTION

Visual arts produced from the 7th century by people who lived in regions that was inhabited by the Islamic population is known as Islamic Art.

Islamic art covers many domains for over 1,400 years. It does not belong to a specific religion, place, time or a single medium like painting. Thus, creating the difficulty to give a specific definition for the term.

ARABESQUE

Elements such as geometrical floral or vegetal designs keep repeating in Islamic art. This repetition is known as arabesque.

Arabesque is generally a non figurative form of art and is the outward appearance of artistic decoration that consists of surface decoration

An uncertain theory exists that artists intentionally make mistakes in repetitions so as to show only God can produce perfection.

There are two approaches to arabesque art :-

1. First Mode

It recalls the principles that oversee the order of the world. They include the basics of what makes objects structurally sound and fine-looking.

Each recurring geometric form has a fixed imagery put down to it.

Eg: the square, with it’s four equal sides, is representational of the elements of nature - earth, air, fire and water – that are equally important. Without any one of the four, the physical world, represented by a circle that engraves the square, would collapse upon itself and cease to exist.

2. Second Mode

It is based on the flowing nature of plant forms. This mode summons up the feminine nature of life giving.

Islam considers calligraphy as the visible expression of art and the most important document to be conveyed orally is the Qur 'an. Proverbs and passages from the Qur 'an can be seen in Arabesque art. The creation of Arabesque is by combining these three forms together. This is a manifestation of concord arising from diversity; a basic ideology of

This is because science and math that are used to construct Arabesque art are universal. Therefore, for most Muslims, the best artwork that can be created by man for use in the Mosque is artwork that displays the underlying order and unity of nature. The order and unity of the material world, they believe, is a mere indistinct guess of the spiritual world, which for many Muslims is the place where the only true reality exists. Discovered geometric forms, therefore, represent this perfect reality as God 's creation has been unclear by the indulgences of