Clear diagrams and a detailed explanatory text: an inspirational guide for craftspeople and artists everywhere. Includes a CD-ROM.

The marvels of Islamic patterns—the most recognizable visual expression of Islamic art and architecture—are not just a beautiful accident. The ancient practitioners of this craft used traditional methods of measurement to create dazzling geometric compositions, often based on the repetition of a single pattern. The results are magnificent in their beauty and awe-inspiring in their execution.

Now, with the aid of this book, everyone can learn how to master this ancient art and create their own intricate patterns or re-create classic examples. All one needs are a pencil, a ruler, a compass, and a steady hand. First, technical tips demonstrate the basics: how to draw a square, hexagon, or pentagon. This is followed by some of the best examples of geometric patterns from around the world, arranged into three levels of complexity, with careful, step-by-step instructions.

The book features geometric patterns from some of the most famous and beautiful Islamic architecture and art, including: La Mezquita, Cordoba; Capella Palatina, Sicily; Mustansiriya Madrasa, Baghdad; Umayyad Mosque, Damascus; Mosque of al-Salih Tala'I, Cairo; The Koran of Rashid al-Din. Over 290 illustrations

Author: Eric Broug
Paperback: 128 pages
Company: Thames & Hudson (2008-06-01)
ISBN: 050028721X
List Price: $21.95
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Islamic Art and Visual Culture is a collection of primary sources in translation accompanied by clear and concise introductory essays that provide unique insights into the aesthetic and cultural history of one of the world's major religions.Collects essential translations from sources as diverse as the Qur'an, court chronicles, technical treatises on calligraphy and painting, imperial memoirs, and foreign travel accountsIncludes clear and concise introductory essaysSituates each text and explains the circumstances in which it was written--the date, place, author, and political conditionsProvides a vivid window into Islamic visual culture and societyAn indispensable tool for teachers and students of art and visual culture

Paperback: 200 pages
Company: Wiley-Blackwell (2011-05-03)
ISBN: 1405154020
List Price: $29.95
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This gorgeous survey of art from
the Islamic world covers three
continents and fourteen centuries. From its birth in the seventh century through modern times,
the Islamic religion has inspired glorious works of art. This
stunning book includes more than four hundred reproductions
of treasures of Islamic art that span the world: from southern
Europe, along the entire Mediterranean basin to sub-Saharan
Africa through the Middle East, India, and Central Asia.
Arranged geographically, the objects include paintings,
miniatures, ceramics, calligraphy, textiles, carpets, and metal
works. Each region is given a thorough introduction that offers
historical context and extensive descriptions of its artifacts.
Accompanying essays offer guidance in interpreting the many
themes that tie these works together, including typology,
calligraphy, and religious beliefs. Despite its wide-ranging
history and origins, Islamic art is unified by its devotion to faith
and beauty. With its large format, exquisite reproductions and
extensive research, this book is a thorough introduction to an
artistic tradition.

Author: Luca Mozzati
Hardcover: 320 pages
Company: Prestel USA (2010-05-20)
ISBN: 3791344552
List Price: $85.00
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The Alhambra, the Taj Mahal and the Tahmasp "Shahnama, " these masterpieces of Islamic art were produced during the period from the Mongol conquest in the early thirteenth century and the advent of European colonial rule in the nineteenth. This book surveys the arts and architecture of the traditional Islamic lands during this era.

Author: Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom
Paperback: 368 pages
Company: Yale University Press (1996-09-25)
ISBN: 0300064659
List Price: $40.00
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This illustrated book provides an overview of Islamic art and architecture during a time that witnessed the formation of a new artistic culture and its first, medieval, flowering in the vast area from the Atlantic to India. Inspired by Ettinghausen and Grabar's original text, this book has been completely rewritten and updated, and many new illustrations have been added.

Author: Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar, Marilyn Jenkins-Madina
Paperback: 360 pages
Company: Yale University Press (2003-08-01)
ISBN: 0300088698
List Price: $40.00
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Author: Eva Wilson
Paperback: 128 pages
Company: Dover Publications (1988-12-01)
ISBN: 048625819X
List Price: $16.95
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In the years following the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century AD, the new religion of Islam spread rapidly through Arabia to North Africa and Spain in the west and Cental Asia and India in the east. Through the following 1000 years, artists and craftsmen in the areas influenced by Islam produced some of the world's most beautiful works of art: from the Albrahmra to the Taj Mahal, from illuminated copies of the Koran to exquisite decorative arts: ceramics, textiles and metalwork. This work highlights the characteristics of Islamic Art and focuses on the differences between the various arts of the Islamic lands. Dividing the era into three periods (600-900, 900-1500, and 1500-1800) the artistic development is set within historical context. In each period the book describes developments in architecture, the arts of the book, the loom and the fire - metalwork, ceramics and glassware. In every medium the examples are chosen to illuminate the sources, characteristics and achievements of Islamic art.

Author: Jonathan Bloom, Sheila S. Blair
Paperback: 448 pages
Company: Phaidon Press (1997-04-24)
ISBN: 071483176X
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Covering one thousand years of history and an area stretching from the Atlantic to the borders of India and China, Robert Hillenbrand incorporates all the latest discoveries and interpretations in this authoritative guide to the arts of Islam.

From the supreme confidence of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem to the scores of exquisite buildings of Ottoman Istanbul; from the extraordinary virtuosity of Persian painting in the fifteenth century to the vivid ceramic tradition of Ottoman Iznik—Hillenbrand does justice to both the highlights and the ongoing evolution of the full range of Islamic arts. Supported by a glossary of Islamic terms, a time line, and maps, this book traces the architecture, calligraphy, book illumination, painting, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork of a vastly accomplished and influential civilization.

Author: Robert Hillenbrand
Paperback: 288 pages
Company: Thames & Hudson (1998-03)
ISBN: 0500203059
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This expansive book reveals the great diversity and range of art of the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and later South Asia. Published to coincide with the historic reopening of the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum's Islamic Art Department, it presents nearly three hundred masterpieces from one of the finest collections in the world. The works range chronologically from the origins of Islam in the seventh century through the nineteenth century, and geographically from as far west as Spain and Morocco to as far east as India. Outstanding miniature paintings and illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, textiles, carpets, glass, and metalwork reflect the mutual influence of artistic practice in the sacred and secular realms. Many of these beautiful objects display the rich traditions of calligraphy, vegetal ornament (the arabesque), and geometric patterning that distinguish the arts of the Islamic world. 

With seven informative essays and almost three hundred catalogue entries—supplemented by introductory essays on the collection and its display—this handsome and comprehensive overview will enlighten the specialist and the general reader alike.

Hardcover: 448 pages
Company: Metropolitan Museum of Art (2011-11-29)
ISBN: 030017585X
List Price: $65.00
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From the Alhambra to the Taj Mahal, from the Dome of the Rock to the ever evolving art of calligraphy, Barbara Brend traces the development of classic Islamic art from the seventh through the twentieth century.

The term "Islamic art" suggests a unity of style and purpose, and these works are in fact instantly recognizable for their subtlety of line and sumptuous detail. The Islamic world--from Arabia to North Africa and Spain, from Turkey to Central Asia and India--has a shared cultural heritage of extraordinary richness. Yet it is a common tradition that divides into a diversity of styles. So Brend narrates this history region by region, illustrating her discussion with superb examples drawn from all areas in which Muslim artists and craftsmen have excelled--mosque and palace architecture; the art of the book (calligraphy, painting, and bindings); and the decorative arts, including metalwork, carvings, mosaics, pottery, textiles, and carpets. Throughout, the author elucidates forms, aesthetic principles, themes, and imagery. And she points to sources and influences in the different periods--for example, the prominence of jade and chinoiserie after the Mongol invasion. In Islamic Art Brend expertly guides us through the splendors and delicacies of this classic tradition.

Author: Barbara Brend
Paperback: 240 pages
Company: Harvard University Press (1992-03-01)
ISBN: 067446866X
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