"Art and Mithāl: Reading Geometry as Visual Commentary" by Carol Bier

Textiles Studies

 

Art and Mithāl: Reading Geometry as Visual Commentary

Date of this Version

2008

Document Type

Article

Citation

Iranian Studies (2008), Vol. 41, No. 4, Sciences, Crafts, and the Production of Knowledge: Iran and Eastern Islamic Lands (ca. 184-1153 AH/800-1740 CE) (Sep., 2008), pp. 491-509.

Comments

Published by Cambridge University Press. Copyright © 2008 The International Society for Iranian Studies. Link to JSTOR.

Abstract

This article seeks to develop an interpretation of ornament as geometric pattern that embodies metaphysical intent in Iranian monuments of the fifth/eleventh century. The proposed argument elucidates cultural meaning relevant to a particular time and specific place, with implications for broader application. Reading geometric patterns as visual commentary, this approach relates the presence of patterns in art accompanied by a Qur'anic inscription to both the practice of pattern-making and the contemporary discourse concerning mathematics, philosophy, and the Islamic sciences in Iran. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of a passage from the Qur'an (59:21-24) inscribed on the tomb towers at Kharraqān, in which the Qur'anic term, amthāl, is taken literally to refer to the patterns executed on the monuments.

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