Nonfigurative Art

Great Square-Headed Brooch, 6th century; Migration Period Anglo-Saxon Copper alloy, gilt quaternary, niello; L. 5 5/16 in. (13.5 cm) Purchase, Rogers Fund and Alastair B. Martin, Levy Hermanos Foundation Inc., and J. William Middendorf II Gifts, 1985 (1985.209)

Art that does not include representations of animals, people, houses or other figurative elements. Religious Islamic art during the Middle Ages was abstract. Because the Koran explicitly forbids anything that smacks of idols or idolatry, religious art featured nonrepresentational decoration.

Color       Cursive Inscription       Geometric      

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