portrayed calligraphies in the form of animals in Islamic art in India The invocation of

Kassem, Asmaa Abdallah; Adly, Hanaa; Omar, Radwa Mohamed

doi:10.21608/jaauth.2023.168098.1397

portrayed calligraphies in the form of animals in Islamic art in India The invocation of "Nadi Ali" executed in the form of a lion as a model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Faculty of Tourism and hotel management _Suez Canal University _Ismailia _Egypt.

² Faculty of Arts - Helwan University

³ Tourism Guidance, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

10.21608/jaauth.2023.168098.1397

Abstract

Abstract:
The artifacts exhibiting the invocation of Nadi Ali in the form of a Lion are amongst the prominent artistic formations produced by the Indian school, Shiite doctrine one, These formations mix the lion's shape with several Arabic scripts to display a unique artistic form, which is considered a model of Portrayed Calligraphy in the form of animals and birds, or rather "Zoomorphic Calligraphy". At first sight, such calligraphies seem a depiction of an animal or a bird's shape, but with a careful scrutiny one figures out it is an outline of a word, or a sentence or maybe a complete text. The research's problem is mainly the shortage of the available Arabic studies about the Portrayed Calligraphy in Islamic art in general, and the artistic models of Nadi Ali's invocation in particular, as the study's sample which will be analyzed through the research is exhibited in worldwide museums, or published in periodicals issued in Foreign Languages.
The research aims to give an overview of the portrayed calligraphy in general, make clear the importance of Nadi Ali's invocation for the Shiites, determine the reason for choosing the lion to form the invocation of Nadi Ali, throw light upon the effect of the Iranian art on the Indian one, clarify the utilized scripts in forming the Lion's shape and to describe the utilized colors and vegetal patterns.

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