{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (5)]}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:136][19910420:0953n]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Art by Numbers? [continued (5)]}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

[continued]

‘Most of the decorative designs tended to be subordinated to geometry, and even calligraphic or vegetal patterns were affected by a seemingly mathematically controlled aesthetic. It has been suggested that these complex geometric designs were a result of an almost mystical passion for number theories that were popularised in 11^th century [ce] Iran by such persons as the scholar and scientist al-Biruni or the poet-mathematician Omat Khayyam. But even if the impulses for geometric design were originally created at the highest intellectual level, the designs themselves rapidly became automatic patterns. Their quality was generally high, but a tendency towards facility can be observed in such buildings as Rebat-e Sharaf.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:88]

[continued]

[PostedBlogger09102024]