Illuminated Qurans from Oman

Heinz Gaube, Abdulrahman Al Salimi

This book is a first attempt to present Omani Quranic manuscripts and their illuminations to a wider public and to discuss their originality in the wider context of Quranic manuscripts, Islamic art as a whole and beyond that in the wider context of Oriental art in general. This book focuses on the most prominent components of Quran illuminations, the frontispieces. The organization of the material starts with the most unpretentiously designed, plain frontispieces without frames and without horizontally subdivided pages and ends with one-page or double-page frontispieces with illuminations in two well-defined different styles which can be subdivided into several under groups. The first of these styles is named "Omani" and the second "Persian influenced" The first style is characterized by primarily geometric ornaments whereas vegetal forms and sophisticated designs distinguish the...