Ink and Gold is a catalogue of over forty pieces of Islamic calligraphy and illumination, covering a period of some 1200 years and representing the calligraphic traditions of an area stretching from Morocco to Central Asia. Pride of place has been given to the Qur'an as the most widely copied text in the Islamic world and as the inspiration for many of the masterpieces of Islamic calligraphy. The catalogue also includes examples of royal decrees, calligraphic albums and Persian poetry, showing the huge diversity of calligraphic traditions in the Islamic world. Ink and Gold has been produced to accompany an exhibition at the Museum fur Islamische Kunst, Berlin.

 

Given the status of the Qur‘an as the eternal and uncreated word of Allah, the art of the pen became the focus of an extra¬ordinary energy in the Muslim world. Ink and Gold charts the development of Islamic calligraphy – the noblest, most stylized and original of the Islamic arts – over a period of some 1200 years, from its beginnings in the Arabian Peninsula.

 

Text and illustrations cover all the major centres of Islamic calligraphy, from North Africa to Central Asia, highlighting the achievements of Islamic calligraphers in the ages of the ‘Abbasid (749–1258), Seljuk (1055–1243), Ilkhanid (1256–1357), Safavid (1502–1736) and Mughal Empires (1526–1857). Though pride of place is given to the Qur‘an, the catalogue also includes examples of royal decrees, calligraphic albums and Persian poetry, showing the huge diversity of calligraphic traditions in the Islamic world.