ISLAMIC

DECORATIONS
 ROOTS OF ISLAMIC
DECORATIONS
• Representation of human and animal forms was
discouraged
– Only God is worthy of creating living things
– One who represents a living thing is competitor of God

• Muslim artist avoided figurative arts

• Muslim artists concentrated on
– Botanic decorations (plants have no soul)
– Geometric decorations
– Calligraphy
 ISLAMIC DECORATIONS

FOLIATION

GEOMETRIC
PATTERNS

CALLIGRAPHY
DEVELOPMENT
OF
DECORATIONS
THE DOME OF THE ROCK
‫مسجدالقصی‬
 THE DOME OF THE ROCK

• Jerusalem
• 691 A.D
• First major artistic endeavor of Islamic world
• Earliest surviving Islamic monument
• A monument over a sacred rock
 NATURAL
DECORATIONS

Details of the mosaic decorations, Dome of the rock

 NON REALISTIC
USE OF REALISTIC
SHAPES

Details of the mosaic decorations, Dome of the rock

 THE UMAYYAD MOSQUE

• Damascus, Syria
• 706 A.D
• one of the earliest surviving mosques
Details of the mosaic decorations, Umayyad mosque
 foliation
Some examples
of Arabesque
decorative style
geometric
patterns
triangle
based
patterns
 square based
patterns
1
rotatio 2
n rotatio
ns

3
rotatio 4
ns rotatio
ns
calligraphy
 principles for generating
patterns
• repetition
• symmetry
• change of scale
 combination of
decorations

decorations, Darb-i-Emam mosque wall detail, great mosque of Heart,

Isfihan, Iran Afghanistan
decorations in 3
dimension
THANK YOU

QUESTIONS?