Tiles of Infinity
When Peter J. Lu visited Uzbekistan as a Harvard University graduate student in 2005, he found himself unexpectedly captivated by the complex tile patterns of a 15-th century Madrasa, or Islamic religious school,…
Around the World with Nusret Colpan
Nusret Çolpan (October 1, 1952 – May 31, 2008) was a Turkish painter, architect and miniaturist, renowned for his paintings in Ottoman miniature style depicting cities around the world, particularly Istanbul. He painted over 300 miniatures in his 30…
Calligraphy on Islamic Coins
Introduction Western coinages in the Hellenistic tradition are praised for the beauty of their images complementing perfectly the circular space. The art of the portrait flowered in particular in the Hellenistic world, the…
Calligraphy by Hassan Massoudy
Following Images are from ”Calligraphie Arabe Vivante” by Hassan Massoudy (1981 edition) Hassan Massoudy is an artist for whom the word itself remains the most sublime creative force. His creations are a subtle…
The Making of Kiswa
Throughout Islamic history, it has been considered a great honor to be able to perform a service to the Ka`bah, in the Sacred Mosque in Makkah. One of these services, performed by both…
Calligraphic Galleon, 1766 AD
Flanked by two other galleons on the horizon, this carefully drawn imperial calligraphic galleon sits on a row of waves containing aphorisms. The imperial galleon with its wind-filled sails is an example of…
Illuminated Calligraphy
Ink, gouache and gold on paper, 6 lines of fine nasta’liq script in black ink within cloud bands filled with interlacing vines, and interspersed with polychrome flowers, headpiece with panels of coloured and…
The Enamelled Glass, Mosque Lamps
Mosque lamps of glass, enamelled and often with gilding, survive in considerable numbers from the Islamic art of the Middle Ages, especially the 13th and 14th centuries, with Cairo in Egypt and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria as the most important centres of production. These are oil…
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar
The Museum of Islamic Art is dedicated to reflecting the full vitality, complexity, and diversity of the arts of the Islamic world. It is a world-class collecting institution, which preserves, studies, and exhibits…
Album of Ottoman Calligraphy
This album (muraqqaʿ) of calligraphy in an accordion format was compiled in Ottoman Turkey in the twelfth century AH / eighteenth CE. It consists of leaves bearing fragmentary passages from the Qur’an (chapter…
Islamic Art
Islamic art is generally reckoned to cover all of the visual arts produced in the lands where Muslims were an important, if not the most important, segment of society. Islamic art differs, therefore,…
Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent
Calligraphy, from Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey AD 1520–1566 Between about 1350 and 1550 great swathes of the world were occupied by the superpowers of their day – from the Inca in South America to the…
