Do the different types of Islamic Art have any common, unifying characteristics - Essay Example

s of art to illuminate the reality of this claim that “different types of Islamic art have myriad common and unifying characteristics.” This essay seeks to promote this message that it is important to not overlook many common features which run through the extremely vivid and captivating art created in the lands of Islam. It is the existence of common features in all forms of Islamic art which help to make it remarkably coherent despite changing times and regional and cultural differences.

Different types of Islamic art like architectural designs, calligraphy, and textile resonate strongly of common characteristics. This common ground lends a kind of coherence to Islamic art making it unique and distinguished. The most important art-form in Islamic art in which a substantial amount of hard work and time got invested by artists is related to calligraphy. This art-form enjoyed the same level of prestige, honor, and attention in Islamic world as painting did in Christian art. Painting was not considered a very noble form of art which is why more attention was paid to calligraphy.

Writing, which has a very status in the world of Islam, was used as a highly valuable literary embellishment to perfect religious manuscripts and other buildings (Hussain 2009). Architects extensively relied on writing to decorate their buildings. As Prophet Muhammad used to divine the word of God, the use of beautiful writing to codify the holy revelations became very popular in later years. Calligraphy was used to create the Qurans in addition to decorating buildings with moving ayahs taken from the Quran.

Using calligraphy to decorate buildings became important because depiction of figures or the human form is considered a sin in Islam. Unlike Christian art which relies on figures to decorate buildings and regularly portrays the human forms, Islamic art depends on calligraphy to achieve the same effect without attracting wrath of God. Because of being a major art-form, calligraphic