Calligraphy: the art of communicating with elegance
When we say calligraphy, we immediately think of beautiful writing. Some of us even had a subject called “calligraphy” in school.
The classic definition of calligraphy is the art of properly forming handwritten characters. Chinese and Arabic calligraphy are the best known, but there was also Latin calligraphy. Let’s explore this art form that has never faded over the years.
What is the significance of calligraphy in Islamic engineering?
Islamic workmanship doesn’t depict figures of creatures or individuals for strict reasons. All things being equal, Ayatul Kursi Calligraphy turned into a significant method for beautification and a profoundly imaginative fine art. Islamic calligraphy had solid associations with religion, yet its utilization was not limited to strict texts.
What is calligraphy?
The word calligraphy derives from the two Greek words “kalos”, which means beautiful, and “graphô” which means, I write. Calligraphy is, therefore, an art: the art of writing the characters of a language well; but above all, the art of drawing them with correctness and elegance. But calligraphy is not limited only to this tracing of “beautiful writing”. Being an art in its own right, it is a way of expressing oneself through writing.
You must have noticed that our grandparents and the elders had very beautiful writings. The school of yesteryear has, in fact, granted a very large place to calligraphy, while many young people today do not really know what it is. This is why, in some European countries, associations that encourage the practice of calligraphy are emerging. The number of people who practice it is constantly increasing.
The birth of calligraphy
Calligraphy was born and developed since the human being knew the writing. Indeed, the evolution of man has led to the need to fix verbal communication in writing. This is how, apparently, the first form of writing originated in the year 3200 BC. Writing called cuneiform, a complete writing system, developed in Lower Mesopotamia.
This art, which is quite difficult to achieve, dates back to ancient times among the Orientals, according to certain sources. According to Chinese historians, it is Wan-Hi-Che, a magistrate who lived in the 3rd century, who is the origin. Until today, we are still looking for his manuscripts of yesteryear.
In Iran, calligraphy reached its peak in the 18th century. Since the Muslim religion forbade the reproduction of the human face, the artists of this time concentrated their efforts on writing. Manuscripts from this period are now sold at exorbitant prices
Modern times then demanded a more aesthetic and ornamental form of writing. This is how in the West, Roman and Greek scribes brought calligraphy to life.
From writing to calligraphy
The historical origin of writing is not yet fully established, some scholars seem to agree that the Phoenicians, an ancient people, were the first to create an organized form of thought in a concrete aspect. These forms are the ancestors of writing. They were not based on single letters grouped in an alphabet, like those of today. They were, rather, composed of symbols reminiscent of the appearance of different objects. These are called pictograms and, later, ideograms. The best known are those of ancient Egypt, which can still be admired in the pyramids.
The invention of printing with movable type, in the middle of the 15th century, could have eliminated the work of calligraphers, but this is not the case. We can still meet calligraphers until today and this breed of artist is not yet about to die out. Indeed, the alphabets of the printing characters were still made by calligraphers. Today, technology is such that almost everything is produced electronically, but always with the collaboration of graphic designers and calligraphers. Manually, using the computer mouse, they take care of the appearance of each character.
