Art and Mithl: Reading Geometry as Visual Commentary

摘要

This article seeks to develop an interpretation of ornament as geometric pattern that embodies metaphysical intent in Iranian monuments of the fifth/eleventh century. The proposed argument elucidates cultural meaning relevant to a particular time and specific place, with implications for broader application.1 Reading geometric patterns as visual commentary, this approach relates the presence of patterns in art accompanied by a Qur'anic inscription to both the practice of pattern-making and the contemporary discourse concerning mathematics, philosophy, and the Islamic sciences in Iran. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of a passage from the Qur'an (59:21-24) inscribed on the tomb towers at Kharraqn, in which the Qur'anic term, amthl, is taken literally to refer to the patterns executed on the monuments.