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It's a talent that obviously ran in the family. Wang Xizhi's youngest son, Wang Xianzhi (344-386), also became a famous Chinese calligrapher of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
In fact, it was the monasteries that preserved calligraphic traditions during the 4th and 5th centuries as Europe fell into the Dark Ages. Pictured is a illustration of Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1184/1194–c. 1264), a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France, known mostly for his Great Mirror (Speculum Maius), a major work of compilation that was widely read in the Middle Ages.
Christian churches enthusiastically promoted the development of writing through the prolific copying of the Bible and other scared texts. Text was often supplemented with decoration—initials, borders (marginalia), and miniature illustrations—to produce an illuminated manuscript. The 7th–9th centuries in northern Europe were the heyday of Celtic illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow, and the aforementioned Lindisfarne Gospels.
Interestingly, this Bible was written and illuminated in the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, the capital of Persia (present-day Iran) in the 1600s. It's lavishly decorated with scenes from the Old Testament.
Roman writing influence eventually reached Great Britain. After the Roman Empire fell, a unical script developed—a style commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries CE by Latin and Greek scribes. In Britain, as writing withdrew to monasteries, unical script was found more suitable for copying the Bible and other religious texts. Pictured is a page from the Folio Lindisfarne Gospels c. 700 CE.
Islamic calligraphy has evolved alongside Islam and the Arabic language. It is traditionally associated with geometric Islamic art (arabesque) found on the walls and ceilings of mosques throughout the Islamic world.
This 14th-century marginal illumination from the Saga of Saint Olaf shows his death at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030.
The Qur'an has played an important role in the development and evolution of the Arabic language and, by extension, calligraphy in the Arabic alphabet. To elaborate, instead of recalling something related to the spoken word, calligraphy for Muslims is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the spiritual world. Pictured is a double page from the Qur'an written in Islamic manuscript and dated to the 12th century.
While dependent on the skill of the writer, the finest calligraphy can only be achieved by using the correct tools. Quill pens were used to write the majority of medieval manuscripts.
A qalam is a type of pen made from a cut, dried reed or bamboo, used for Islamic calligraphy.
The pen is seen as an important symbol of wisdom in Islam, and references the emphasis on knowledge and education within the Islamic tradition. Therefore, anyone mastering the art of calligraphy was held in very high esteem. Pictured is a Turkish pen box and inkwell from the Ottoman era that would have been used only by the very best calligraphers. They were made with great care and became objects of art themselves.
Fountain pens afforded, quite literally, the user a more fluid writing style. Waterman pens, crafted in France since 1883, typified the elegant and refined writing instrument, and the high level of calligraphy that could be achieved by using a pen of this nature.
Ethiopian (Abyssinian) calligraphy began with the Ge'ez script, first used around 100 CE. Pictured is a orthodox priest showing the book Miracles of Maria, hand-written in liturgical language Ge'ez on parchment.
The calligrapher's work is still feted throughout the Far East. In fact, prestigious competitions are regularly held to ascertain the best practitioners. Pictured are participants in traditional Chinese costumes writing the Chinese character "chun" (which means spring in English) with Chinese calligraphy brushes during a calligraphy competition in Dalian, China.
Pictured: the Book of Kells, produced c. 800, showing the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John.
Pictured: the tughra (official signature) of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566).
The first fountain pens found use in the 17th century. In 1663, Samuel Pepys referred to a metal pen "to carry ink." It soon became the preferred writing tool of royalty. Pictured is a hand writing sample from King William IV, who reigned in Great Britain from 1765 to 1837. Neat, cursive handwriting was regarded as illustrative of an educated and sophisticated hand.
The Bloomberg tablets are a collection of preserved wooden tablets dating from 50 to 80 CE in the early Roman period. This makes them the earliest written documents found in Britain. The tablets were unearthed during the excavation of a central London site, after which the Bloomberg building was constructed, thus lending the incredible find its name.
The origin of Western calligraphy evolved from Phoenicia in about 1200 BCE. It's recognizable by the use of the Latin script. The Latin alphabet appeared in about 600 BCE, in Rome. It later developed into Roman imperial capitals carved on stones (pictured) and painted on walls.
Pictured: an excellent example of Islamic calligraphy used to decorate the interior of a mosque, in fact Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey.
Pictured is Edward Johnston (1872–1944), who is regarded, along with Rudolf Koch (1876–1934), as the father of modern calligraphy. In fact, contemporary typefaces used by computers owe a considerable debt to the past and to a small number of professional typeface designers today who pioneered the use of calligraphy as a visual art as well as a refined and aesthetically pleasing method of writing.
Sources: (British Library) (Britannica)
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In order to appreciate the fine art of calligraphy, we must first understand and identify the origins of the written word.
This is a fine example of calligraphy in a Latin Bible. Dating from 1407, it would have been hand-written in large script for reading aloud in a monastery.
In ancient China, the oldest Chinese characters existing are Jiaguwen characters carved on animal bone. The so-called oracle bone script (pictured) dates back to the late Shang dynasty, c. 1600 BCE–c. 1046 BCE.
The ancient Egyptians invented the pictorial script—hieroglyphics. The appearance of this writing system in 3000 BCE marked the beginning of Egyptian civilization.
Wang Xizhi, who lived during the Jin Dynasty (265–420), is regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in history, and was a master of all forms of Chinese calligraphy, especially the running script. His esteem is such that he has been and remains influential in Japanese calligraphy.
This Georgian calligraphy reflects a centuries-old tradition of an artistic writing of the Georgian language.
This early 12th-century leaf from a Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita ("Perfection of Wisdom") manuscript depicts Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Buddha of the future) holding a lotus stem, bestowing protection.
The principal tools for a calligrapher are the pen and the brush. Pictured is a calligrapher at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam, writing in ink using a brush.
Indian calligraphy developed around 500 CE when Indian traders, colonists, military adventurers, Buddhist monks, and missionaries brought the Indic script to Central Asia from South East Asia. Pictured are inscriptions in the Kufic style of calligraphy used to form regular bands throughout the Qutb Minar minaret in Delhi, which dates back to 1192 CE.
The word calligraphy literally means to write with beauty, based on the Greek origin of the word. And perfecting calligraphy, or the art of decorative handwriting or handwritten lettering, is indeed a fine art. But who can we thank for developing this expressive, ornamental, and harmonious method of communication, and is it a lost art form?
Click through the following gallery and find out more about the decorative art of the written word.
The forgotten art of calligraphy
Find out more about the decorative art of the written word
LIFESTYLE Writing
The word calligraphy literally means to write with beauty, based on the Greek origin of the word. And perfecting calligraphy, or the art of decorative handwriting or handwritten lettering, is indeed a fine art. But who can we thank for developing this expressive, ornamental, and harmonious method of communication, and is it a lost art form?
Click through the following gallery and find out more about the decorative art of the written word.