التذهيب الإسلامي : المنطلقات التاريخية و أسس التصنيف

Abstract EN

Islamic Illumination, as a technique or an art, is regarded as a distinguished field of the epistemological archetypes of Islamic Arts, contrary to what some researchers regarded as «secondary art graft» or as additional (not essential) valuable element of «Painting>s additives».

Islamic illumination is not aiming for color gilding or giving the artwork an additional aesthetic value or making it more expensive as an art work, it has a distinguished characteristics of Islamic Art, so as the major Islamic Arts, such as Calligraphy, Ornamentation, and Book Binding.

This hypothesis which this research is trying to tackle throughout studying technical routs and origins of gilding and illumination at Pre-Islam Arabic civilization and then through the developments of illumination techniques in Islamic gilding after discovering the chemical analysis and properties of GOLD, by which new techniques of preparing Gold where found such as preparing ink from Gold (Golding ink).

These techniques create new styles of illumination which used in traditional book arts as coloring Islamic manuscripts and in building crafts as coloring lots of different wooden, ceramics masterpieces.

Basic conclusions of this research are: • The Arabic origin of Islamic Illumination.

• The use of distinguished techniques and styles of gilding and coloring that differs from the Egyptian (pharonic) and Persian (manioc) styles.

• Special symbolic spiritual philosophy of this art which relates to Islamic concept of divine light derived from Qur>anic concept of the term NOUR .

النور