The urban structure of the Alhambra

The current set of the Alhambra is the culmination of a type of palace-city that emerged in the Eastern world, found its best manifestation in the Andalusian world in the mythical Madinat-al-Zahra  created during the Caliphate of Cordoba by Abderahman III. It was a perfectly defended citadel and was completely isolated from other structures in the city of Granada.

The Alhambra possessed three distinct nuclei: the citadel, palaces and residential and artisan medina; all within a walled compound with several defensive-residential towers and four major entrances: the Gate of the Justice and Weapons door, which communicated with the Alhambra through the lower city, respectively, the Albaicín and Realejo; and the Gate of Arrabal and the Seven Floors, allowing arrival at the Alhambra without going before Madinat Gharnatah.

The Alcazaba Yidida or New is different from other Andalusian citadels, in the sense that its interior space weapons, rather than enabled with removable tents, dealt with 17 military housing and two elite guard barracks. Those houses were modeled on Roman style houses with simplified impluvium. Ample space was used for communication between the citadel and the area of the palaces, much changed in the early sixteenth century when it was built in large reservoirs and the current Plaza de Armas.

The Nasrid palaces occupied the central part of the whole. Today is a pale reflection of its former glory, especially if you consider that it was a comprehensive set of separate buildings, of which only now kept in good condition the quarter of Comares, Lions, Generalife and part of Partal. The medina, finally, with its mosque and craft and residential parts occupy the most elevated area, being a nucleus that soon became congested by population growth, which contrasted greatly with amplitude of courtly buildings. This area is accessed directly by Gate Seven Floors.

Of the 6 royal palaces which owned the grounds of the Alhambra (they should add the extrawalls Generalife palace) now only have survived in relatively good condition two: the quarter of  Comares and Lions.

And finally, located at the back of this magnificent palace of the Lions, were two important areas: The Rauda or cemetery of the Nasrid dynasty (rauda is a synonym for garden, to allude to the paradise of repose for the deads, mourned symbolically with morning dew) and the Alhambra royal mosque, occupied now by the parish church of Santa Maria.

The Alhambra was among the few Hispanic precincts of Muslims who escaped the burning and destruction of the troops of the Catholic Monarchs. They received it intact thanks to the surrender of the last Nasrid king, Boabdil. Soon began the Catholic modifications, changing minarets by bell towers and the downfall of some rooms. In 1495, by order of Isabella the Catholic, was built the Convent of Saint Francis, for the Franciscan Order, the first Christian transformation of the Alhambra. The Castilian monarch decided to use for this first Christian building, in the heart of the Nasrid citadel, an Arabic palace built in the time of Muhammad II.

The Nasrid grounds suffered during the imperial time of Charles V the greater transformation, which involved numerous damages in its original configuration. The Emperor Charles V was determined to conditioning the palatial rooms for their use and enjoyment. He began with the Mexuar, who suffered his first reform, to continue with the transformation of the Peinador de la Reina in 1537, which became an intimate chamber for his wife. Previously, in 1526 he opened way through the Nasrid buildings to create the Courtyard of Lindaraja and made reforms in the royal bath of Comares. These interventions in the Nasrid palace area culminated with the construction of the great Renaissance palace, between the years 1528 and 1537, designed by the architect Machuca. The Great Mosque (which had already been 'blessed' a Christian church in times of Isabella the Catholic) was demolished in 1576 and the church of Santa Maria de la Alhambra was built on its site, during the rule of King Philip III.  

 The Alhambra before Catholic kings interventions

Ground plan of the Alhambra with Catholic kings interventions to nowadays

The Disappeared Alhambra

The Alhambra, a palatine fortress perched on a mountainous outcrop above the city of Granada, has held a unique place in the historiography of Islamic architectural monuments, owing both to its European location in modern-day Spain and to the character of its ‘rediscovery’ by European travellers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Originally constructed under a succession of Nasrid rulers between 1232 and 1492, the exceptionally well-preserved palace complex later became archetypal to Western scholarship of ‘Moorish’ architecture and ornament, despite its many subsequent alterations under the Catholic monarchs (1). Like all residential monuments with long histories of continuous use, the Nasrid fortress had been occupied and altered numerous times following its capture in 1492; after the conquest by monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I (who ruled as joint sovereigns of Aragon and Castile from 1479 until Isabella’s death in 1504), the site was occupied by their grandson, Emperor Charles V (r. 1516-56), and later by a motley crew of Napoleonic troops, Spanish Romany residents, prisoners of war, and travelling artists and writers (2). During each of these stages, alterations to the monument’s structure and surface decoration, as well as the gradual decay occasioned by extended periods of disuse in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, have reflected changing attitudes towards Spain and its history from both within and beyond its borders. Framed as the final chapter of Muslim rule in the region, and geographically removed from larger historical developments in North Africa and the Middle East, the art of the Nasrid sultanate became ‘a stepchild of history, receiving unsteady attention from both the Islamic world and the European land it had once inhabited’. The symbolic weight of the Alhambra, imagined both a relic of the lost golden age of al-Andalus and a war trophy of the Reconquista, has further ensured it a liminal position within the history of Islamic art.

By Lara Eggleton*

 1 The term ‘Moor’, or the Spanish equivalent ‘Moro’, derives from the Latin Maurus and was first used in Roman times to denote the inhabitants of the province of Mauretania, which included large portions of modern-day Algeria and Morocco. Since the Middle Ages the term has been used by Europeans to refer generally to Muslim populations of Morocco and former inhabitants of al-Andalus, absenting any clear ethnic or regional distinctions. The term ‘Moorish’ continues to be used widely in contemporary descriptions of the historic art and architecture of these areas. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s.v. ‘Moor’.

 2 Among the many changes made to the palaces was the conversion of the Mexuar to a royal chapel and the area surrounding the Cuarto Dorado or Golden Room into residences under Ferdinand and Isabella. Charles V continued this conversion programme through an extension of the Comares Palace into royal apartments, and the construction of a large Renaissance-style palace alongside the Lions complex. Victorian traveller and Hispanist Richard Ford gives a valuable record of what he calls the Alhambra's ‘history of degradation’ after the sixteenth century in Hand-Book for Travellers in Spain and Readers at Home: Describing the Country and Cities, the Natives and Their Manners, the Antiquities, Religion, Legends, Fine Arts, Literature, Sports, and Gastronomy: With Notices on Spanish History, vol. 1, London: John Murray, 1845, 364-7.   

*Lara Eggleton completed her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2011 on the subject of the Alhambra and its nineteenth-century British interpretations. She currently holds the position of Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds, and is funded by the Harold Hynam Wingate Foundation to undertake research on the Owen Jones print collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

  Recreation view of the original Alhambra (circa 1480 AC)

Contemporary overview of the Alhambra

(Click on images to enlarge).

About our abstract painting series

The culture of the Muslim world has developed a very specific type of ornamental design, which is grounded in the religious demands of Islam. The visual language of Islamic design employs a variety of intricate geometric patterns, floral elements and ornate calligraphy, all of which are used to decorate manuscripts, textiles, furniture, buildings, etc. AL HAMRA contemporary art projects presents a diverse collection of abstract paintings, ranging from simple and elegant elements to complex and highly ornate interlocking patterns, based mainly on Islamic artworks from the palaces and fortress of Alhambra, built in the Middle Ages for emirs of the Nasrid Emirate or Kingdom of Granada, to the traditional tile ornamentations in Moroccan old cities:

Arrayanes shadows and reflections, is a painting series based on the ceramic baseboard walls of the Patio de los Arrayanes (the Myrtles Court) pavilions in the Alhambra of Granada, which combines on canvas: colour, abstraction and geometry.

Examples of this series catalogue:

(Oil on canvas: Measurements 195.00 cm wide x 114.00 cm height)

Zillij art collection, is a tribute or homage to the modernity of a craft tradition by centuries, developed by the Muslim art in al-Andalus and al-Maghrib territories in the times of the cultural influence of Andalusian Nasrid Emirate from Granada.

Examples of this series catalogue:

(Oil on square canvas: Measurements 120.00 cm wide x 120.00 cm height)

Qatib art collection, is a painting series on monochrome background, based from the ceramic pieces of straight lines (Arabic Qatib) or broken lines (Qatib 'uy) used by Muslim craftsmen who created the most famous tiled traceries and lattices for covering floors, ceilings and baseboard walls of the Alhambra’s palaces in Granada and another heritage  sites.

Examples of this series catalogue:

(Oil on square canvas: Measurements 80.00 cm wide x 80.00 cm height)

Furmah art collection, is a painting series based on the elementary polygonal pieces (squares, stars, rhombuses, …) which composed the geometric design of zellige tile patterns in the Andalusian or Moroccan Muslim ceramic decorations. These small pieces, called ‘furmah‘, are manufactured, still today, by specialist artisans in a complex crafted process with origins in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East interlocking sheets tiles knowledge.

Examples of this series catalogue:         

(Oil on canvas: Measurements 162.00 cm wide x 130.00 cm height)

Jatm art collection, is a painting series based on a singular piece around which seems to revolve geometric composition of ceramic tiles that we can found in the main Spanish-Muslim ornamentation of the Alhambra in Granada or also in the North African Maghreb colourful zelliges, called the "ring" or Jatm, a star of eight points formed by the intersection of two squares, which usually combines with equal arm crosses finished with pointed ends, known as Daqmar sûm (moonlight).

Examples of this series catalogue:

(Oil on canvas: Measurements 130.00 cm wide x 97.00 cm height)

And monochromatic series with variations in grey, yellow, red, green and blue:

Click on images to enlarge. 
For more information about each series, look for the catalogue links in the right column.

The Language of Symmetry in Islamic Art

Throughout the ages mystics and theologians have used geometry as a contemplative focus, as it enables the viewer a vision of the underyling order of both the cosmos and the natural world. The cyclical movement of heavenly bodies, which Plato described as the ‘music of the spheres’, finds its Earthly reflection in the natural symmetries found throughout nature and most strikingly within the world of flowers, the proportions of which are governed by simple geometric laws. The origin of the word ‘cosmos’ is adornment (from which we derive the modern word ‘cosmetics’) and the adornment of sacred buildings with both floral and geometric patterns makes the viewer sensitive to the subtle harmonies uniting the natural world around us with the cosmos.

In Islamic art the geometric figure of the circle represents the primordial symbol of unity and the ultimate source of all diversity in creation. The natural division of the circle into regular divisions is the ritual starting point for many traditional Islamic patterns, as demonstrated in the drawings below.

The pattern above (15th century) from Yazd in Iran is derived from six regular divisions of the circle. From this a regular grid of triangles is established, on top of which the design is elaborated. Note how the complex tracery of pattern interweaves with the basic design which appears in white outline in the photograph above.

A family of geometric tiles (above) derived from the octagram (khatam – 8 pointed star) form a ‘jigsaw’ puzzle, which through different combinations can generate a myriad of stunning designs. These are typical of the ceramic cut tile pieces used in mosaics though out Morocco (al-Maghrib), where they are known as ‘zillij’ and  Andalucia (al-Andalus), where they are known as ‘alicatado’, from the early medieval period onwards. These shapes are still cut by hand in modern day Morocco.

In the Alhambra (14th C), Spain, geometric pattern is perfectly integrated with biomorphic design (arabesque) and calligraphy.  These are the three distinct, but complementary, disciplines that comprise Islamic art. They form a three-fold hierarchy in which geometry is seen as foundational. This is often signified by its use on the floors or lower parts of walls, as shown in the image above.

The decorative elements deployed use a range of symmetries that have now been classified as belonging to distinct mathematical groups, but the subtlety and beauty of the designs is unparalleled in modern mathematical thinking.

Islamic designers used the full range of Archimedean tilings (comprised of simple polygons) first discovered by the Greeks, but added to and expanded upon these with extraordinary visual and spatial ingenuity. The pattern above (after Paul Marchant) is based on elements of medieval designs typically found in Cairo. Notice the pattern of underlying polygons: hexagons, triangles, squares, dodecagons. The underling tiling pattern is usually hidden beneath the final design, as if behind a veil, but the viewer is always given an intimation of the hidden order and this is part of what gives the designs their meditative power.

With a compass and ruler a master craftsman can demonstrate a method for setting out a pattern which employs 10-fold radial symmetry. Note the construction of the decagram (10-pointed star). This is the key generative motif for Persian ‘girih’ patterns.

The four examples above show how to derive a range of classic motifs from the decagram (there are several more). These form the basis of 12th century Iranian ‘girih’ patterns, which have been linked to Roger Penrose’s famous non-periodic tilings, i.e. patterns that can extend to infinity without regular repetition.

(From an article published by Richard Henry / artist and teacher in Islamic geometric pattern. He works in painting, print and tile-mosaic. He has developed a number of courses for the British Museum in London’s World Arts and Artefacts program and has taught internationally).

Introduction to Geometric Design in Islamic Art

The principles and teachings of Islam as a way of life, a religious code, and a legal system were promulgated by Muhammad (ca. 570–632 A.D.), an Arab merchant from Mecca. These teachings were revealed to him over a period of many years beginning in 610 and were subsequently codified in the text known as the Qur’an. The word of God, as set out in the Qur’an and handed down in the sayings of Muhammad (known as Hadith, or Traditions), forms the core of the religion.

The primary premise of the Islamic faith is monotheism, a renunciation of all deities except one, Allah, who alone is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of life. Islam is Arabic for  ”submission,“ here to the single entity of Allah. The recognition of Muhammad as Allah’s last prophet, a prophet like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the others that preceded Muhammad, is also a key element of the belief.

Neither the Qur’an nor the Traditions contain specific mandates against figural representation in art. However, both sources take a firm stance against idolatry and the worship of images. These precepts were interpreted strictly by early Islamic religious leaders and exegetes as an injunction against the depiction of human or animal figures, although extant examples of architectural decoration, objects in all media, and illustrated manuscripts belie that stricture. Four types of ornamentation can be found in Islamic art: calligraphy, figural forms (human and animal), vegetal motifs, and geometric patterns. These patterns, either singly or combined, adorn all types of surfaces, forming intricate and complex arrangements.

While geometric ornamentation may have reached a pinnacle in the Islamic world, sources for the basic shapes and intricate patterns already existed in late antiquity in the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. Islamic artists appropriated key elements from the classical tradition, then elaborated upon them to invent a new form of decoration that stressed the importance of unity, logic, and order. Essential to this unique style were the contributions made by Islamic mathematicians, astronomers, and other scientists, whose ideas and technical advances are indirectly reflected in the artistic tradition.

The basic instruments for constructing geometric designs were a compass and ruler. The circle became the foundation for Islamic pattern, in part a consequence of refinements made to the compass by Arabic astronomers and cartographers. The circle is often an organizing element underlying vegetal designs; it plays an important role in calligraphy, which the Arabs defined as “the geometry of the line”; and it structures all the complex Islamic patterns using geometric shapes. These patterns have three basic characteristics:

1. They are made up of a small number of repeated geometric elements. The simple forms of the circle, square, and straight line are the basis of the patterns. These elements are combined, duplicated, interlaced, and arranged in intricate combinations. Most patterns are typically based on one of two types of grid -one composed of equilateral triangles, the other of squares. A third type of grid, composed of hexagons, is a variation on the triangular schema. The mathematical term for these grids is “regular tessellation” (deriving from Latin tesserae, i.e., pieces of mosaic), in which one regular polygon is repeated to tile the plane.

2. They are two-dimensional. Islamic designs often have a background and foreground pattern. The placement of pattern upon pattern serves to flatten the space, and there is no attempt to create depth. Vegetal patterns are may be set against a contrasting background in which the plantlike forms interlace, weaving over and under in a way that emphasizes the foreground decoration. In other instances, the background is replaced by a contrast between light and shade. Sometimes it is impossible to distinguish between foreground and background. Some geometric designs are created by fitting all the polygonal shapes together like the pieces of a puzzle, leaving no gaps and, therefore, requiring no spatial interplay between foreground and background.

The mathematical term for this type of construction is “tessellation.” The conception of space in Islamic art is completely different from Western models, which usually adopt a linear perspective and divide the picture space into foreground, middle ground, and background. Artists of the Islamic world were largely uninterested in linear perspective. Of the various styles of Islamic art, it was in Persian painting that a type of three-dimensional space was used in which figures could interact, but this space presented multiple viewpoints and simultaneously featured bird’s-eye and worm’s-eye views.

3. They are not designed to fit within a frame. Geometric ornamentation in Islamic art suggests a remarkable degree of freedom. The complex arrangements and combinations of elements are infinitely expandable; the frame surrounding a pattern appears to be arbitrary and the basic arrangement sometimes provides a unit from which the rest of the design can be both predicted and projected.

(Extract from ‘Islamic Art and Geometric Design / Activities for learning’. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2004).

Towers of the Alhambra, a curiosity board game

Towers of the Alhambra, a new game of skill and strategy created by the author and inventor Paco López Martín, is a two-player game inspired in the Monument, played on an inlaid woodcraft board with 35 squares, made of Sycamore, Oak and Walnut tree woods and 10 pieces (towers) made of gold and copper.  Size of board: 38 x 27.5 cm.

The set also includes a study on the towers of the Alhambra, written by Paco López with the support of Alhambra and Generalife archaeology advisor Jesús Bermúdez. The study comes in Spanish, English and French, and contains history, anecdotes and legends concerning the towers. The set is completed with a DVD containing the game instructions, also in three languages.

Players move five Alhambra towers to try to conquer the opponent’s fortress. Of the ten towers used in the game, five are based on towers along the northern wall of the Alhambra and are finished in old gold, while the other five correspond to the southern wall and are finished in copper.

Towers of the Alhambra is not just any game. “It is also a collector’s item, and great care has gone into every detail”. Several professionals were involved in creating the pieces, including Granadan sculptor Juan Manuel Gabarrón, who designed the miniature towers, and marquetarian Tomás Lara Bimbela, expert craftsman in ‘taracea’, the Moorish inlaid wood design works. (See also our post: Taracea, an Arabic influence crafts from Granada).

This Nasrid strategy game, it’s a fun, instructive, educational tool, and can be acquired at the Alhambra Museum Gift and Book Shops and from www.alhambratienda.es

Table games as ‘alquerque’ and checkers, were popular in mediaeval courts, particularly chess, the game of strategy based on the battlefield that requires great skill and intelligence. The game was introduced into the Spanish Middle Age kingdoms by the Muslims, although the name comes from a Persian word ‘shatranj’ (that in Spanish was rendered as ajedrez).

This game is from the family of Halma (‘Jump’ in Greek), devised by George Howard Monk in 1883 (supposedly inspired on previous English game called Hoppity, 1854) and more popularly known in its version of Chinese Checkers  from publication with star-shaped board, published in Germany in 1893 with the title of Stern-Halma. In these games the pieces jump, onto each other above, to fill out the checkerboard squares opposite. Although this family of games can be linked in form of movement with the traditional game of Checkers or Draughts, the pieces are not removed.

We can understand the rules in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJCONHMQcr0

The JATM art collection

The collection of AL HAMRA contemporary art projects called JATM is a pictorial series based on as singular piece around which seems to revolve geometric composition of ceramic tiles that we can found in the main Spanish-Muslim ornamentation of the Alhambra in Granada or also in the North African Maghreb colourful zellige (followers of this tradition and craftsmanship to nowadays), called the ‘ring’ or Jatm (also transliterated from Arabic language by khatam or khatim):  a star (Najm) of eight points formed by the intersection of two squares by rotating 45 degrees in diagonal, which usually combines directly with equal arm crosses finished with pointed ends, known as ‘moonlight’ or Daqmar sûm.

More complex patterns can be developed using the jatm (khatam) or its variant as a centerpiece. The following diagram shows how a pattern that employs a symmetry is built around a central jatm using a grid of four circles around a central circle.

By the middle-ages, the eight-point star had become widely used as a symbol in Islamic art, and known as khatim sulayman, ‘seal of the prophets’, as in the seal of a signet ring.  The phrase ‘seal of the prophets’ is also used in the Koran and has a particular ideological meaning for Muslim world.

Further symbolism of the eight-point star can be discovered by examining its role in Islamic ornamentation and pattern building. The eight-point star is referred to by artisans of the craft of zillij (geometrical mosaics made with ceramic tile work used mainly as an architectural ornament) in Morocco as sibniyyah or sabniyyah, which is a derivative of the number seven sab’ah. Why is this? It must surely be that it is conceived of as seven plus one.

The photo at side shows detail of a zillij pattern used to decorate a wall in the medina of Fes (Morocco). The pattern contains multiple uses of the eight-point star, both as a centerpoint and an encompassing shape of the pattern.

In conclusion, among the colour and composition, the jatm or Khatam stands as a symbol of early astronomy, interconnectedness, and faith in the ultimate harmony of Creation. In this way, the jatm represents the highest virtues in Muslim culture: learning, community, faith, and love of beauty.

The following pictures show several examples of the JATM art collection with various patterns based around an eight-point star that radiates outwards into various ‘moonlight’ crosses and star formations:




(Click on the image to enlarge)

(Click on the image to enlarge)

And monochromatic variations in grey, yellow, red, green and blue:

(Click on the image to enlarge)

For more information about the series, you can download the complete catalogue by opening the link in the right column of the page.

Patterns in Islamic Art: Recommended Books

Surface patterns on works of art created in the Islamic world have been prized for centuries for their beauty, refinement, harmony, intricacy, and complexity.

Each one of these recommended books focuses on Islamic geometric patterns, exploring their structure and meaning, and providing an introduction to Islamic art while learning about the variety of geometric patterns employed by artists to embellish a wide range of works of art, including textiles, ceramics, metalwork, architectural elements, and manuscripts.

Islamic Designs in Color

By N. Simakoff

Published by Dover Publications (1993) New Edition

Over 160 rich, sumptuous designs, reproduced from rare 19th-century edition. Royalty-free motifs drawn from carpets, tiles, carved wood, plates, decorative painting of buildings and furnishings, metalwork, jewellery and more include geometrics, florals and other designs in many shapes and sizes, with rich selection of borders.

 162 designs on 68 plates

Islamic Geometric Design

By Eric Broug
Published by Thames & Hudson (2003)

The beauty of Islamic geometric designs, and the breathtaking skill of the craftsmen who created them, are admired the world over. The intricacy and artistry of the patterns can seem almost beyond the powers of human ingenuity. In this handsomely illustrated volume, author analyses and explains these complex designs for the first time in their historical and physical context.  Own original drawings accompany magnificent photographs of mosques, madrasas, palaces and tombs from the Islamic world, ranging from North Africa to Iran and Uzbekistan, and from the 8th to the 19th centuries.

The creators of these patterns were usually anonymous and there is little evidence for their working practices, but a close and detailed study of the designs can tell us much. Chapters are devoted to each of the main ‘families’ of geometric design – fourfold, fivefold and sixfold – and to the complex ‘combined’ patterns. Every design is carefully explained, and illustrated with a wealth of stunning photographs and clear, meticulously detailed drawings.

Readers can follow the design processes by which these patterns were created and even 
learn to reproduce and invent geometric patterns for themselves, using exactly the same tools as the Islamic craftsmen of old: a ruler and a pair of compasses.

256 pages, over 800 illustrations

Islamic Geometric Patterns

By Eric Broug
Published by Thames & Hudson (2008)

Traditional Islamic craftsmen weren't mathematicians, they had practical knowledge of geometry, their tools for making geometrical designs were a compass and a ruler. This book uses the same design principle. It demonstrates how Islamic craftsmen would draw a hexagon and a pentagon with only their tools of a compass and a ruler. The method used in this book is new and innovative; it makes it easy for enthusiasts of any age to learn how to make their own designs. 

The book contains twenty different geometrical designs, ranging from simple to complex. All designs are related to a location in the Islamic world where they can be found. For example, there are designs from:

- the Great Mosque of Cordoba, Spain
- the Mustansiriya Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq
- the Esrefoglu Mosque in Beysehir, Turkey
- the Sheikh Abd al-Samad Complex in Natanz, Iran
- the tomb of Bibi Jawindi in Uch, Pakistan
- the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria
- the Tomb of Jalal al-Din Hussein in Uzgen, Kirgizstan

The book is accompanied with an interactive CD-Rom that contains all twenty designs presented as animations, printable grid paper PDF's, printable colouring designs, interactive photographs and an extensive photo-gallery showing highlights of Islamic geometrical compositions. 

128 pages

Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach
  

By Keith Critchlow

Published by Inner Traditions (1999) New Edition

Keith Critchlow is Director of Research and Director of Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts at the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture. An internationally known lecturer on Islamic art, he is the author of Pythagorean Geometry. He lives in England. 

The classic study of the cosmological principles found in the patterns of Islamic art and how they relate to sacred geometry and the perennial philosophy.

Explains how these patterns guide the mind from the mundane world of appearances to its underlying reality.

For centuries the nature and meaning of Islamic art has been wrongly regarded in the West as mere decoration. In truth, because the portrayal of human and animal forms has always been discouraged on Islamic religious principles that forbid idolatry, the abstract art of Islam represents the sophisticated development of a non naturalistic tradition. Through this tradition, Islamic art has maintained its chief aim: the affirmation of unity as expressed in diversity.

In this fascinating study the author explores the idea that unlike medieval Christian art, in which the polarization of such forms and patterns was relegated to a background against which to set sacred images, the geometrical patterns of Islamic art can reveal the intrinsic cosmological laws affecting all creation. Their primary function is to guide the mind from the mundane world of appearances toward its underlying reality. 

Numerous drawings connect the art of Islam to the Pythagorean science of mathematics, and through these images we can see how an Earth centred view of the cosmos provides renewed significance to those number patterns produced by the orbits of the planets. The author shows the essential philosophical and practical basis of every art creation -whether a tile, carpet, or wall- and how this use of mathematical tessellations affirms the essential unity of all things. An invaluable study for all those interested in sacred art, Islamic Patterns is also a rich source of inspiration for artists and designers.

192 pages with 150 colour and black-and-white drawings of Islamic patterns
 

Islamic Design: A Genius for Geometry

By Daud Sutton

Published by Walker & Company (2007)

Daud Sutton is director of the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation's design studio Editio Electrum, specializing in the fine reproduction of carpet pages from ancient manuscripts. He lives in England.

An exploration of the construction and meaning of Islamic geometric patterns.

Throughout their long history the craft traditions of the Islamic world evolved a multitude of styles applied to a great variety of media but always with unifying factors that make them instantly recognizable. Harmony is central. There are two key aspects to the visual structure of Islamic design: calligraphy using Arabic script (one of the world's great calligraphic traditions) and abstract ornamentation using a varied but remarkably integrated visual language. Focusing on Islamic geometric patterns, simple and complex, man-made and in nature, this book offers unique insight into Islamic culture.

64 pages 
                                  

Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design

By J. Bourgoin

Published by Dover Publications (1973) New Edition

Nearly 200 examples exhibit the wide range of Islamic art, including hexagon and octagon  designs, combinations of stars and rosettes, and many variations on other geometric patterns. Twenty-eight examples from traditional sources in Cairo and Damascus include sanctuary doors, openwork windows, and inlaid marble pavements and ceilings.

204 pages