During the early days of Islam, scripture was mostly transmitted through oral tradition, but from the late 7th century the Quran started to be recorded in beautiful Arabic calligraphy, often following an angular style known as kufic, which sought to create geometrical harmony within the written text. ![]() Islamic scripture has a rich history of illumination, too. (Orthodox Judaism prohibited the depiction of the human image.) Experts believe that it was created in either Germany or France by or for a Jewish family that escaped from England, from which Jews were expelled in 1290. The rare manuscript features one of the richest collections of illuminations in Jewish art, including three full-page paintings, more than a hundred illuminated text panels and hundreds of marginal images featuring fantastic creatures and abstract motifs. Paul Getty Museum recently acquired a medieval copy of the Torah, known as the Rothschild Pentateuch, dating to 1296. ![]() Since many European feudal states had laws preventing Jews from joining painting guilds, the artwork decorating pages of the Torah was often drawn by itinerant Jewish scribes and illuminated by local - and sometime Christian - artists. Important volumes, such as the scriptures and the prayerbooks of wealthy families, were decorated with illustrations or designs made of glowing gold leaf and luminous colors - a technique referred to as “illumination.” The first illuminated copies of the Torah appeared around the mid-13th century. During the Middle Ages, most manuscripts were written on parchment, usually made from the prepared hide of a calf, goat or sheep.
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