Editing Arabesque (section)

{{Short description|Decorative pattern, characteristic of Muslim art}}
{{Other uses|Arabesque (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Flickr - jemasmith - Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Detail..jpg|thumb|340px|Stone relief with arabesques of tendrils, [[palmette]]s and half-palmettes in the [[Umayyad Mosque]], [[Damascus]], [[Syria]]]]
[[File:Turquoise epigraphic ornament MBA Lyon A1969-333.jpg|thumb|Part of a 15th-century ceramic panel from [[Samarkand]] ([[Uzbekistan]]) with white [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphy]] on a blue arabesque background]]The '''arabesque''' is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fleming, John |author2=Honour, Hugh |title=Dictionary of the Decorative Arts |year=1977 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-670-82047-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofdeco00john }}</ref> often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised [[half-palmette]]s, which were combined with spiralling stems".<ref>Rawson, 236</ref>  It usually consists of a single design which can be '[[tessellation|tiled]]' or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired.<ref name=Robinson>{{cite book |author=Robinson, Francis |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109 |url-access=registration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-66993-1}}</ref> Within the very wide range of [[Eurasia]]n decorative art that includes [[Motif (visual arts)|motif]]s matching this basic definition, the term "arabesque" is used consistently as a technical term by [[history of art|art historians]] to describe only elements of the decoration found in two phases: [[Islamic art]] from about the 9th century onwards, and European decorative art from the [[Renaissance]] onwards. [[Interlace (art)|Interlace]] and [[Scroll (art)|scroll]] decoration are terms used for most other types of similar patterns.

Arabesques are a fundamental element of Islamic art. The past and current usage of the term in respect of European art is confused and inconsistent. Some Western arabesques derive from Islamic art, however others are closely based on [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] decorations. In the West they are essentially found in the [[decorative arts]], but because of the generally non-figurative nature of Islamic art, arabesque decoration is often a very prominent element in the most significant works, and plays a large part in the decoration of [[Islamic architecture|architecture]].

Claims are often made regarding the theological significance of the arabesque and its origin in a specifically Islamic view of the world; however, these are without support from written historical sources since, like most medieval cultures, the Islamic world has not left us documentation of their intentions in using the decorative motifs they did. At the popular level such theories often appear uninformed as to the wider context of the arabesque.<ref>Tabbaa, 74-77</ref> In similar fashion, proposed connections between the arabesque and Arabic knowledge of [[geometry]] remains a subject of debate; not all art historians are persuaded that such knowledge had reached, or was needed by, those creating arabesque designs, although in certain cases there is evidence that such a connection did exist.<ref>Tabbaa, 88</ref>  The case for a connection with [[Islamic mathematics]] is much stronger for the development of the [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric patterns]] with which arabesques are often combined in art.  Geometric decoration often uses patterns that are made up of straight lines and regular angles that somewhat resemble curvilinear arabesque patterns; the extent to which these too are described as arabesque varies between different writers.<ref>Canby, 20-21</ref>