Periods, Cultures, Styles > Fatimid
Fatimid
Fatimid art is noteworthy for its internationalism: it bridges the east and west of the Islamic world and it was open to the Hellenic heritage of the Mediterranean and to some ideas from Christian powers to the north. Painting, book illustration, wood and ivory carving, and glass, ceramic and textile design bear figurative decoration unparalleled in contemporary Islamic art. An interest in naturalism is also evident. Religious buildings, were decorated with a new style of stone carving typically featuring elegant inscriptions in a distinctive form of kufic script elaborated with foliate and floral elements. Mosques were commissioned by royalty with expertly-carved wooden minbars to handcrafted metal lamps. Centers near Cairo became well known for ceramics, glass, metal, wood, and especially for lucrative textile production.