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The Most Important Islamic Arts
The Islamic civilization paid great attention to the arts, but Muslim artists excelled in creating new arts in several fields, and Muslim artists were not satisfied with other arts as they are, but they did their best to mastering it, They created and merged many artistic elements of these arts, which added to them A very special character that distinguished it from its counterparts in other civilizations.
The topic of our article today concerns one of the most important Islamic arts, which is the art of decoration and handcrafting, and we will focus on a specific field in this art, which is decorating with gold or what is termed as the art of "gilding".
The Muslim artist was interested in writing in gold with the use of distinctive Arabic calligraphy, which is what produced this wonderful art called “Al-Tazheeb”.
What is gilding?
Gilding is the process of adding gold to something else, which makes it “mazahab”, and due to the interest of Muslim artists in decorative writing, they also added gold as a decorative element to calligraphy, and this art was used in decorating hard surfaces and on book pages.
The Mozaheb - which is what We call the artists who work in the art of gilding - excelled in preparing and mixing the paint used in this art, which was going through many stages to adapt and use gold metal, as they mixed thin gold plates with water and Arabic gum and then some processes that make gold an easy material ready to be painted.
Tools used in this art:
Artists used some tools in the art of gilding, not to mention the tools that were used in the beginning of the process for preparing gold liquor. The Muslim artist used a tool called Mahra, which is his most important tool to distribute gold to the previously decorated place, It helps to distribute and paint the gold in a distinct artistic way.
Uses of this art:
The art of gilding is the most wonderful writing arts after the arts of Arabic calligraphy, The uses of the art of gilding emerged at use of the decorating the first and second pages as well as the last two pages of the Holy Qur’an, as it was used in decorating the covers of the Holy Qur’an and some famous Islamic heritage books too.
The ingenuity of using gilding is also evident in paintings that preserve verses of the Holy Quran, such as those designed by the masterful artists of Farjo.
The art of gilding was also widely used in decorating the inside pages of Qur’ans, Arabic poetry books, and pictures of miniature "mosaics". Usually this art is used on the cover and on the first page, and it has always been used around the surahs, al-Fatiha and al-Baqara, and the chapter headings.
It is worth noting that gilding gave the method of writing Qur’ans an additional artistic value, and the gilded Qur’ans began to circulate as a kind of valuable gift among the rulers of countries.
But it remains to be emphasized that the art of Islamic gilding was not limited to the Qur’an, It rather emerged to be one of the components of the Art of books, which is an art in itself and depends on four fundamentals:
1- The art of Arabic calligraphy
2- The art of gilding
3- The Mosaic Art of Miniatures
4- The art of binding for covers
Therefore, the art of gilding draws inspiration from nature, with its basic elements, with the rules for the drawings used mainly based on Islamic engineering prominent in the botanical details characteristic of this art and reflects the artistic and economic richness of the Islamic eras.
Today, we find many wonderful artistic examples of traditional gilding art provided by Farjo for everyone who is amateurs of Islamic art, which combines classic and modern styles together at the same time, suitable for all tastes and different financial budgets.
The topic of our article today concerns one of the most important Islamic arts, which is the art of decoration and handcrafting, and we will focus on a specific field in this art, which is decorating with gold or what is termed as the art of "gilding".
The Muslim artist was interested in writing in gold with the use of distinctive Arabic calligraphy, which is what produced this wonderful art called “Al-Tazheeb”.
What is gilding?
Gilding is the process of adding gold to something else, which makes it “mazahab”, and due to the interest of Muslim artists in decorative writing, they also added gold as a decorative element to calligraphy, and this art was used in decorating hard surfaces and on book pages.
The Mozaheb - which is what We call the artists who work in the art of gilding - excelled in preparing and mixing the paint used in this art, which was going through many stages to adapt and use gold metal, as they mixed thin gold plates with water and Arabic gum and then some processes that make gold an easy material ready to be painted.
Tools used in this art:
Artists used some tools in the art of gilding, not to mention the tools that were used in the beginning of the process for preparing gold liquor. The Muslim artist used a tool called Mahra, which is his most important tool to distribute gold to the previously decorated place, It helps to distribute and paint the gold in a distinct artistic way.
Uses of this art:
The art of gilding is the most wonderful writing arts after the arts of Arabic calligraphy, The uses of the art of gilding emerged at use of the decorating the first and second pages as well as the last two pages of the Holy Qur’an, as it was used in decorating the covers of the Holy Qur’an and some famous Islamic heritage books too.
The ingenuity of using gilding is also evident in paintings that preserve verses of the Holy Quran, such as those designed by the masterful artists of Farjo.
The art of gilding was also widely used in decorating the inside pages of Qur’ans, Arabic poetry books, and pictures of miniature "mosaics". Usually this art is used on the cover and on the first page, and it has always been used around the surahs, al-Fatiha and al-Baqara, and the chapter headings.
It is worth noting that gilding gave the method of writing Qur’ans an additional artistic value, and the gilded Qur’ans began to circulate as a kind of valuable gift among the rulers of countries.
But it remains to be emphasized that the art of Islamic gilding was not limited to the Qur’an, It rather emerged to be one of the components of the Art of books, which is an art in itself and depends on four fundamentals:
1- The art of Arabic calligraphy
2- The art of gilding
3- The Mosaic Art of Miniatures
4- The art of binding for covers
Therefore, the art of gilding draws inspiration from nature, with its basic elements, with the rules for the drawings used mainly based on Islamic engineering prominent in the botanical details characteristic of this art and reflects the artistic and economic richness of the Islamic eras.
Today, we find many wonderful artistic examples of traditional gilding art provided by Farjo for everyone who is amateurs of Islamic art, which combines classic and modern styles together at the same time, suitable for all tastes and different financial budgets.