Selimiye Foundation Museum – Calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy

 

From the Wikipedia:

 

Islamic calligraphy, equally known as Arabic calligraphy, is the art of writing, and by extension, of bookmaking.[1] This art has most often employed the Arabic script, throughout many languages. Calligraphy is especially revered among Islamic arts since it was the primary means for the preservation of the Qur'an.

 

Throughout Islamic history, the work of calligraphers was collected and appreciated. Consideration of figurative art as idolatrous led to calligraphy and abstract figures becoming the main forms of artistic expression in Islamic cultures.[2]

 

Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art (the Arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on the page. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic inscriptions or abstractions in their work.

Calligraphic scripts

 

The first Arabic script to gain popularity was the Kufic script, which was created in 537. Kufic is angular, made of square and short horizontal strokes, long verticals, and bold, compact circles. It was the main script used to copy the Qur'an for three centuries. Its static aspect made it suitable for monumental inscriptions, too. It developed many serifs (small decorations added to each character).

 

More often used for casual writing was the cursive Naskh script, with rounder letters and thin lines. As techniques for writing in this style were refined, it came to be preferred to Kufic for copying the Qur'an. Naskh is the first script taught to most children. Almost all printed material in Arabic is in Naskh so, to avoid confusion, children are taught to write in the same script. It is also clearer and easier to decipher.

 

In the 13th century, the Thuluth script took on the ornamental role formerly associated with the Kufic script. Thuluth means "one third"; the form of Thuluth is based on the principle that one third of each letter slides downward. Thus it has a strong cursive aspect and is usually written in ample curves.

 

After Persia was conquered by Arabs in the 7th century, it became common to write Persian in Arabic script. The Persians contributed the Ta'liq and Nasta'liq styles to Arabic calligraphy. Nasta'liq is extremely cursive, with exaggeratedly long horizontal strokes. One of its peculiarities is that vertical strokes lean to the right rather than (as more commonly) to the left, making Nasta'liq writing flow particularly well. The Persians also developed a style called shekasteh ('broken' in Persian). Shekasteh has seldom been used for scripting Arabic texts, though it is an Arabic calligraphy style.

 

The Diwani script is a cursive style of Arabic calligraphy developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks (16th and early 17th centuries). It was invented by Housam Roumi and reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–66). As decorative as it was communicative, Diwani was distinguished by the complexity of the line within the letter and the close juxtaposition of the letters within the word.

 

A variation of the Diwani, the Diwani Al Jali, is characterized by its abundance of diacritical and ornamental marks.

 

Finally, the most common script for everyday use is Ruq'ah (also known as Riq'a). Simple and easy to write, its movements are small, without much amplitude. It is the one most commonly seen. It is considered a step up from Naskh script, which children are taught first. In later grades they are introduced to Ruq'ah.

 

 

Done