{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (5)]}[14th April 1991]

[Redbook9:99][19910414:1104e]{Islamic Art – The Word (1) [continued (5)]}[14th April 1991]

19910414:1104

[continued]

‘A perfect harmony is reached in some of the miniature manuscripts of Iran, Muslim India, or Ottoman Turkey,* which, in their lucid colours and fine details of execution, recall both the perfection of the calligraphy that surrounds them in delicate paper and the subtlety of the stories or poems that they accompany or illustrate.

‘Those accustomed to the Western ideals of plasticity or form in the fine arts or literature or to the polyphonic interweaving of melodic lines in music have some difficulty in appreciating this art. The palaces seem to be without a fixed architectural plan;** rooms and gardens are simply laid out according to daily needs.*** The historian offers an outstanding amount of detailed reports and facts but with no unifying concept. The Muslim writer prefers this carpet-like form; he adds colour to colour, motif to motif, so that the reader only understands the meaning and end of the whole web from a certain distance. Music, differentiated as it may be in the countries between Morocco and India, follows the same model: variations of highest subtlety on a comparatively simple**** given subject or theme.’

#

*{cf [[Redbook9:141-147][19910420:0953ee]{Late Period of Islamic Art [continued (2)]}[20th April 1991],] 144}

**{cf [[Redbook9:141-147][19910420:0953z]{Late Period of Islamic Art [continued (2)]}[20th April 1991],] 142}

***{J~?}

****{R~?}

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica) 22:45]

{→ [[Redbook9:102-116][19910414:1104#]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) }[14th April 1991],] 102}

[continued]

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