Beschrijving

This volume presents a richly illustrated selection from the museum’s calligraphy collection, showcasing masterpieces of Islamic handwriting and ornamentation. The book provides high-quality colour plates of pages, panels and manuscripts, allowing the reader to appreciate the finesse of the scripts, the elegance of line, and the interplay of text and design. It emphasizes the role of calligraphy not merely as writing, but as a visual art deeply embedded in cultural, religious, and aesthetic traditions.

The narrative explores how the selected works reflect different styles, schools, and periods of Islamic calligraphy: from early Kufic forms to refined Ottoman scripts, from formal court commissions to more spontaneous devotional texts. The commentary draws attention to the technical features — such as proportion, rhythm, spacing, and use of ornamentation — and to how individual calligraphers achieved expressive mastery within established traditions. Through this, the book shows how calligraphy served as both religious expression and artistic innovation.

Finally, the book situates these works within the wider context of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum’s curatorial mission and cultural significance. It invites the reader to reflect on the legacy of calligraphy as an enduring form of artistic and spiritual heritage, and on how the preservation and exhibition of such works help bridge past and present. It thus underscores the idea that these manuscripts and panels are not just historical artefacts, but living links to an aesthetic-spiritual tradition.