Editing Arabesque (section)

== Islamic arabesque ==
The Islamic arabesque was probably invented in Baghdad around the 10th century. It first appeared as a distinctive and original development in Islamic art in carved marble panels from around this time.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&q=Arabesque+was+probably+invented+baghdad+10th+century+&pg=RA2-PA244 |title=Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set |last2=Blair |first2=Sheila S. |last3=Blair |first3=Sheila |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref>
What makes Islamic arabesque unique and distinct from vegetal decorations of other cultures is its infinite correspondence and the fact that it can be extended beyond its actual limits.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/groveencyclopedi0001unse |title=The Grove encyclopedia of Islamic art and architecture, Vol I |date=2009 |publisher= Oxford University Press  |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1 |pages=65}}</ref> The arabesque developed out of the long-established traditions of plant-based [[scroll (art)|scroll]] ornament in the cultures taken over by the early [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic conquests]]. Early Islamic art, for example in the famous 8th-century [[mosaic]]s of the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]], often contained plant-scroll patterns, in that case by Byzantine artists in their usual style. The plants most often used are stylized versions of the [[Acanthus mollis|acanthus]], with its emphasis on leafy forms, and the vine, with an equal emphasis on twining stems.  The evolution of these forms into a distinctive Islamic type was complete by the 11th century, having begun in the 8th or 9th century in works like the [[Mshatta Facade]]. In the process of development the plant forms became increasingly simplified and stylized.<ref>Tabbaa, 75-88; Canby, 26</ref>  The relatively abundant survivals of [[stucco]] [[relief]]s from the walls of palaces (but not mosques) in [[Abbasid Samarra]], the Islamic capital between 836 and 892, provide examples of three styles, Styles A, B, and C, though more than one of these may appear on the same wall, and their chronological sequence is not certain.<ref>Necipoğlu, Gülru, Payne, Alina, ''Histories of Ornament: From Global to Local'', 88-90, 2016, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|0691167281}}, 978069116728, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9nACCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 google books]; [https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/mik/miksamarra.html "Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin: Objects from Samarra"]; Ettinghausen et al, 57-59; examples of styles A, B, and C illustrated.</ref> 
 
Though the broad outline of the process is generally agreed, there is a considerable diversity of views held by specialist scholars on detailed issues concerning the development, categorization and meaning of the arabesque.<ref>Tabbaa's Chapter 4 gives an overview of these questions.</ref>  The detailed study of Islamic arabesque forms was begun by [[Alois Riegl]] in his [[formalism (art)|formalist]] study ''[[Stilfragen|Stilfragen: Grundlegungen zu einer Geschichte der Ornamentik]]'' (''Problems of style: foundations for a history of ornament'') of 1893, who in the process developed his influential concept of the ''Kunstwollen''.<ref>Tabbaa, 74-75</ref>  Riegl traced formalistic continuity and development in decorative plant forms from [[ancient Egyptian art]] and other ancient Near Eastern civilizations through the classical world to the Islamic arabesque.  While the ''Kunstwollen'' has few followers today, his basic analysis of the development of forms has been confirmed and refined by the wider ''corpus'' of examples known today.<ref>Rawson, 24-25; see also [http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/-8220-Style-8221-151-or-whatever-4745 "“Style”—or whatever", J. Duncan Berry], A review of ''Problems of Style'' by Alois Riegl, ''[[The New Criterion]]'', April 1993</ref> [[Jessica Rawson]] has recently extended the analysis to cover [[Chinese art]], which Riegl did not cover, tracing many elements of Chinese decoration back to the same tradition, the shared background helping make the assimilation of Chinese motifs into Persian art after the [[History of Iran#Mongol invasion .281219.E2.80.931221.29|Mongol invasion]] harmonious and productive.<ref>Rawson, the subject of her book, see Preface, and Chapter 5 on Chinese influences on Persian art.</ref>

Many arabesque patterns disappear at (or "under", as it often appears to a viewer) a framing edge without ending and thus can be regarded as infinitely extendable outside the space they actually occupy; this was certainly a distinctive feature of the Islamic form, though not without precedent. Most but not all foliage decoration in the preceding cultures terminated at the edge of the occupied space, although infinitely repeatable patterns in foliage are very common in the modern world in [[wallpaper]] and [[textile]]s.

Typically, in earlier forms there is no attempt at realism; no particular species of plant is being imitated, and the forms are often botanically impossible or implausible. "Leaf" forms typically spring sideways from the stem, in what is often called a "half-[[palmette]]" form, named after its distant and very different looking ancestor in ancient Egyptian and Greek ornament.  New stems spring from leaf-tips, a type often called [[honeysuckle]], and the stems often have no tips, winding endlessly out of the space.  The early [[Mshatta Facade]] is recognisably some sort of vine, with conventional leaves on the end of short stalks and bunches of grapes or berries, but later forms usually lack these.  Flowers are rare until about 1500, after which they appear more often, especially in Ottoman art, and are often identifiable by species.  In Ottoman art the large and feathery leaves called [[Saz style|''saz'']] became very popular, and were elaborated in drawings showing just one or more large leaves.  Eventually floral decoration mostly derived from Chinese styles, especially those of [[Chinese porcelain]], replaces the arabesque in many types of work, such as pottery, textiles and miniatures.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:Damasco moschea degli OmayyadiHPIM3241.JPG|[[Mosaic]]s on the Treasury Dome of the [[Great Mosque of Damascus]], 789, still in essentially Byzantine style
File:Mschatta-Fassade (Pergamonmuseum).jpg|[[Mshatta facade|Palace facade from Mshatta]] in Jordan, {{circa}}740, now in the [[Pergamon Museum, Berlin|Pergamon Museum]] (Berlin)

Spagna, cordoba, pisside col nome di al-mughina, avorio, X sec. 04.JPG|[[Pyxis of al-Mughira]], 10th century, in the [[Louvre]]

File:Panel with Horse Heads MET DP170363.jpg|Panel with horse heads, 11th century, in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City

File:Tughra Suleiman.jpg|[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[tughra]] of [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], with flowers and ''saz'' leaves, 1520

Tile panel flowers Louvre OA3919-2-297.jpg|[[Iznik pottery|Iznik]] tile panel with flowers, 1550-1600, in the Louvre

Unknown, Turkey, 1560 - Iznik Tile - Google Art Project.jpg|Iznik tile, 1560, in the [[Museum of Islamic Art, Doha|Museum of Islamic Art]] from [[Doha]], [[Qatar]]

Iznik tiled lunette panel.jpg|Iznik tiled lunette panel that may have come from the [[Piyale Pasha Mosque]] in Istanbul, 1570-1575, in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in London

File:Sheikh Lotfallah Esfahan.JPG|Giant arabesque pattern on the dome of the [[Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque]] from [[Isfahan]], [[Iran]], 17th century

Rosette, Titles of Sha Jahan.jpg|"Rosette bearing the names and titles of shah Jahan", folio from the shah Jahan album, {{Circa|1645}}, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
</gallery>

=== Significance in Islam ===
[[File:Egitto, cairo, placca decorativa in avorio, XI sec - Louvre - OA 6265-1.jpg|thumb|Arabesque pattern behind hunters on [[ivory carving|ivory plaque]], 11th–12th century, Egypt]]
[[File:Alhambra (038).jpg|thumb|Three modes: arabesques, [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric patterns]], and [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphy]] used together in the [[Court of the Myrtles]] of [[Alhambra]] ([[Granada]], Spain)]]{{More citations needed section|date=September 2020}}
The arabesques and [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric patterns]] of Islamic art are often said to arise from the [[Islam]]ic view of the world (see above). The [[Aniconism in Islam|depiction of animals and people is generally discouraged]], which explains the preference for abstract geometric patterns.

There are two modes to arabesque art. The first mode recalls the principles that govern the order of the world. These principles include the bare basics of what makes objects structurally sound and, by extension, beautiful (i.e. the angle and the fixed/static shapes that it creates—esp. the [[truss]]). In the first mode, each repeating geometric form has a built-in symbolism ascribed to it. For example, the square, with its four [[equilateral]] sides, is symbolic of the equally important elements of nature: [[soil|earth]], [[air]], [[fire]] and [[water]]. Without any one of the four, the physical world, represented by a circle that inscribes the square, would collapse upon itself and cease to exist. The second mode is based upon the flowing nature of [[plant]] forms. This mode recalls the [[female|feminine]] nature of life giving. In addition, upon inspection of the many examples of Arabesque art, some would argue that there is in fact a third mode, the mode of [[Islamic calligraphy]].

Instead of recalling something related to the 'True Reality' (the reality of the spiritual world), Islam considers [[calligraphy]] a visible expression of the highest art of all; the art of the spoken word (the transmittal of thoughts and of history). In Islam, the most important document to be transmitted orally is the [[Qur'an]]. [[Proverb]]s and complete passages from the Qur'an can be seen today in Arabesque art. The coming together of these three forms creates the Arabesque, and this is a reflection of unity arising from diversity; a basic tenet of Islam.

The arabesque may be equally thought of as both [[art]] and [[science]]. The artwork is at the same time [[mathematical]]ly precise, aesthetically pleasing, and symbolic. Due to this duality of creation, the artistic part of this equation may be further subdivided into both [[secular]] and [[religious]] artwork. However, for many Muslims there is no distinction; all forms of art, the natural world, mathematics and science are seen to be creations of God and therefore reflections of the same thing: God's will expressed through his creation. In other words, man can discover the geometric forms that constitute the arabesque, but these forms always existed before as part of God's creation, as shown in this picture.

There is great similarity between arabesque artwork from very different geographic regions.<ref name=Wade>{{cite web |last1=Wade |first1=David |title=The Evolution of Style |url=http://patterninislamicart.com/background-notes/the-evolution-of-style |website=Pattern in Islamic Art |access-date=19 December 2015 |date=March 2006 |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519142349/https://patterninislamicart.com/background-notes/the-evolution-of-style |url-status=dead }}</ref> In fact, the similarities are so pronounced that it is sometimes difficult for experts to tell where a given style of arabesque comes from. The reason for this is that the science and mathematics that are used to construct Arabesque artwork 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 [[ghost]]ly approximation of the spiritual world, which for many Muslims is the place where the only true reality exists. Discovered geometric forms, therefore, exemplify this perfect reality because God's creation has been obscured by the [[sin]]s of man.

Mistakes in repetitions may be intentionally introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only Allah can produce perfection, although this theory is disputed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islamic Textile Art: Anomalies in Kilims |author=Thompson, Muhammad |author2=Begum, Nasima |url=http://www.turkotek.com/salon_00101/salon.html |work=Salon du Tapis d'Orient |publisher=TurkoTek |access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The future of art in a digital age: from Hellenistic to Hebraic consciousness |url=https://archive.org/details/futureartdigital00alex |url-access=limited |last=Alexenberg |first=Melvin L. |year=2006 |publisher=Intellect Ltd |isbn=1-84150-136-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/futureartdigital00alex/page/n55 55]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Only God is Perfect |url=http://www.geometricdesign.co.uk/perfect.htm |work=Islamic and Geometric Art |author=Backhouse, Tim |access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>
Arabesque art consists of a series of repeating geometric forms which are occasionally accompanied by [[calligraphy]]. Ettinghausen et al. describe the arabesque as a "vegetal design consisting of full...and half [[palmette]]s [as] an unending continuous pattern...in which each leaf grows out of the tip of another."<ref>Ettinghausen et al, 66.</ref> To the adherents of [[Islam]], the Arabesque is symbolic of their united faith and the way in which traditional Islamic cultures view the world.