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Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner". Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable. Classical calligraphy differs from type design and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both. CD-ROM Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of
wedding invitations A wedding invitation is a letter asking the recipient to attend a wedding. It is typically written in the formal, third-person language and mailed five to eight weeks before the wedding date. Like any other invitation, it is the privilege and d ...
and event invitations,
font design Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...
and typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, announcements,
graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
and commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions, and memorial documents. It is also used for
props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...
and moving images for film and television, and also for
testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, where ...
s, birth and death certificates, maps, and other written works.


Tools


Pens and brushes

The principal tools for a calligrapher are the pen and the
brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...
. Calligraphy pens write with nibs that may be flat, round, or pointed. For some decorative purposes, multi-nibbed pens—steel brushes—can be used. However, works have also been created with felt-tip and ballpoint pens, although these works do not employ angled lines. There are some styles of calligraphy, such as Gothic script, that require a stub nib pen. Common calligraphy pens and brushes are: * Quill * Dip pen * Ink brush * Qalam * Fountain pen * Chiselled marker


Inks, papers, and templates

Writing ink is usually water-based and is much less viscous than the oil-based inks used in printing. Certain specialty paper with high ink absorption and constant texture enables cleaner lines, although parchment or vellum is often used, as a knife can be used to erase imperfections and a
light-box A lightbox is a translucent surface illuminated from behind, used for situations where a shape laid upon the surface needs to be seen with high contrast. Types Several varieties exist, depending on their purpose: * Various backlit viewing d ...
is not needed to allow lines to pass through it. Normally, light boxes and templates are used to achieve straight lines without pencil markings detracting from the work. Ruled paper, either for a light box or direct use, is most often ruled every quarter or half inch, although inch spaces are occasionally used. This is the case with (hence the name), and college-
ruled paper Ruled paper (or lined paper) is writing paper printed with lines as a guide for handwriting. The lines often are printed with fine width and in light colour and such paper is sometimes called ''feint-ruled paper''. Additional vertical lines may ...
often acts as a guideline well.


World traditions


East Asia

Chinese calligraphy is locally called ' or ' ( or in traditional Chinese, literally "the method or law of writing");
Japanese calligraphy also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...
is ' (, literally "the way or principle of writing"); and
Korean calligraphy Korean calligraphy, also known as Seoye (), is the Korean tradition of artistic writing. Calligraphy in Korean culture involves both Hanja (Chinese logograph) and Hangul (Korean native alphabet). Early Korean calligraphy was exclusively in Ha ...
is called ' ( ko, 서예/, literally "the art of writing"); The calligraphy of East Asian characters continues to form an important and appreciated constituent of contemporary traditional East Asian culture.


History

In
ancient China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
, the oldest known Chinese characters are
oracle bone script Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest kno ...
(), carved on ox scapulae and tortoise plastrons, because the rulers in the Shang Dynasty carved pits on such animals' bones and then baked them to gain auspice of military affairs, agricultural harvest, or even procreating and weather. During the
divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
ceremony, after the cracks were made, the characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved. With the development of Bronzeware script () and Large Seal script () "cursive" signs continued. Mao Gong Ding is one of the most famous and typical Bronzeware scripts in Chinese calligraphic history. It has 500 characters on the bronze which is the largest number of bronze inscription we have discovered so far. Moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters. In
Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
, the graphs on old
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
s—some dating from 200 BCE, and in
Small Seal script The small seal script (), or Qin script (, ''Qínzhuàn''), is an archaic form of Chinese calligraphy. It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by the government of Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Chinese Qin dynasty. Name ...
( ) style—are still . About 220 BCE, the emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first to conquer the entire Chinese basin, imposed several reforms, among them Li Si's character unification, which created a set of 3300 standardized Small Seal characters. Despite the fact that the main writing implement of the time was already the brush, few papers survive from this period, and the main examples of this style are on steles. The Clerical script (/) () which is more regularized, and in some ways similar to modern text, were also authorised under Qin Shi Huang. Between clerical script and traditional regular script, there is another transitional type of calligraphic work called Wei Bei. It started during the
North and South dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin, Eastern Jin dy ...
(420 to 589 CE) and ended before the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Traditional regular script (), still in use today, and attributed to Wang Xizhi (, 303–361) and his followers, is even more regularized. Its spread was encouraged by Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (926–933), who ordered the printing of the classics using new wooden blocks in Kaishu. Printing technologies here allowed a shape stabilization. The Kaishu shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China. But small changes have been made, for example in the shape of which is not absolutely the same in the Kangxi Dictionary of 1716 as in modern books. The Kangxi and current shapes have tiny differences, while stroke order is still the same, according to the old style. Styles which did not survive include , a mix of 80% Small Seal script and 20% Clerical script. Some variant Chinese characters were unorthodox or locally used for centuries. They were generally understood but always rejected in official texts. Some of these unorthodox variants, in addition to some newly created characters, compose the simplified Chinese character set.


=Technique

= Traditional East Asian writing uses the Four Treasures of the Study (/): ink brushes known as (/), Chinese ink, paper, and inkstones to write Chinese characters. These instruments of writing are also known as the ''Four Friends of the Study'' ( ko, 문방사우/文房四友, Munbang sau) in Korea. Besides the traditional four tools,
desk pad A desk pad or blotter is a table protector used when work such as painting or writing would otherwise damage the table or desk. Description Typical sizes for desk pads are A3 (420 × 297 mm, 11.7 × 16.5 in) and A2 (594 × 420 mm, ...
s and paperweights are also used. Many different parameters influence the final result of a calligrapher's work. Physical parameters include the shape, size, stretch, and hair type of the ink brush; the color, color density and water density of the ink; as well as the paper's water absorption speed and surface texture. The calligrapher's technique also influences the result, as the look of finished characters are influenced by the quantity of ink and water the calligrapher lets the brush take and by the pressure, inclination, and direction of the brush. Changing these variables produces thinner or bolder strokes, and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, accelerations and decelerations of a skilled calligrapher's movements aim to give "spirit" to the characters, greatly influencing their final shapes.


=Styles

= Cursive styles such as '' '' (/)(semi-cursive or running script) and '' '' (/)(cursive, rough script, or grass script) are less constrained and faster, where more movements made by the writing implement are visible. These styles' stroke orders vary more, sometimes creating radically different forms. They are descended from Clerical script, in the same time as Regular script ( Han Dynasty), but ' and ' were used for personal notes only, and never used as a standard. The ' style was highly appreciated in
Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...
reign (140–187 CE). Examples of modern printed styles are Song from the Song Dynasty's printing press, and
sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
. These are not considered traditional styles, and are normally not written.


=Influences

= Japanese and Korean calligraphy were each greatly influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Calligraphy has also influenced
ink and wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà; ja, 水墨画, translit=suiboku-ga or ja, 墨絵, translit=sumi-e; ko, 수묵화, translit=sumukhwa) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses black ink, such as tha ...
, which is accomplished using similar tools and techniques. Calligraphy has influenced most major art styles in East Asia, including
ink and wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà; ja, 水墨画, translit=suiboku-ga or ja, 墨絵, translit=sumi-e; ko, 수묵화, translit=sumukhwa) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses black ink, such as tha ...
, a style of
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, Japanese, and Korean painting based entirely on calligraphy. The Japanese and Koreans have also developed their own specific sensibilities and styles of calligraphy while incorporating Chinese influences.


Japan

Japanese calligraphy goes out of the set of
CJK strokes CJK strokes () are the calligraphic strokes needed to write the Chinese characters in regular script used in East Asian calligraphy. CJK strokes are the classified set of line patterns that may be arranged and combined to form Chinese charact ...
to also include local alphabets such as hiragana and katakana, with specific problematics such as new curves and moves, and specific materials ( Japanese paper, , and Japanese ink).


Korea

The modern
Korean alphabet The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
and its use of the circle required the creation of a new technique not used in traditional Chinese calligraphy.


Mongolia

Mongolian calligraphy is also influenced by Chinese calligraphy, from tools to style.


Tibet

Tibetan calligraphy is central to Tibetan culture. The script is derived from Indic scripts. The nobles of Tibet, such as the High
Lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...
s and inhabitants of the Potala Palace, were usually capable calligraphers. Tibet has been a center of Buddhism for several centuries, and that religion places a great deal of significance on written word. This does not provide for a large body of secular pieces, although they do exist (but are usually related in some way to Tibetan Buddhism). Almost all high religious writing involved calligraphy, including letters sent by the Dalai Lama and other religious and secular authority. Calligraphy is particularly evident on their
prayer wheels Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...
, although this calligraphy was forged rather than scribed, much like Arab and Roman calligraphy is often found on buildings. Although originally done with a reed, Tibetan calligraphers now use chisel tipped pens and markers as well.


"Temporary calligraphy"

Temporary calligraphy, also called
water calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...
, is a practice of water-only calligraphy on the floor, which dries out within minutes. This practice is especially appreciated by the new generation of retired Chinese in public parks of China. These will often open studio-shops in tourist towns offering traditional Chinese calligraphy to tourists. Other than writing the clients name, they also sell fine brushes as souvenirs and limestone carved stamps. Since late 1980s, a few Chinese artists have branched out traditional Chinese calligraphy to a new territory by mingling Chinese characters with English letters; notable new forms of calligraphy are Xu Bing's square calligraphy and DanNie's coolligraphy or cooligraphy.


Southeast Asia


Philippines

The Philippines has numerous ancient and indigenous scripts collectively called as Suyat scripts. Various ethno-linguistic groups in the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century up to the independence era in the 21st century have used the scripts with various mediums. By the end of colonialism, only four of the suyat scripts survived and continue to be used by certain communities in everyday life. These four scripts are Hanunó'o/Hanunoo of the Hanuno'o Mangyan people, Buhid/Build of the Buhid Mangyan people, Tagbanwa script of the Tagbanwa people, and Palaw'an/Pala'wan of the Palaw'an people. All four scripts were inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, under the name ''Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Build, Tagbanua and Pala’wan)'', in 1999. Due to dissent from colonialism, many artists and cultural experts have revived the usage of
suyat Suyat (''Baybayin:'' , '' Hanunó'o:'' , '' Buhid:'' , '' Tagbanwa:'' , '' Modern Kulitan:'' '' Jawi (Arabic):'' ) is the modern collective name of the indigenous scripts of various ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines prior to Spanish c ...
scripts that went extinct due to Spanish persecution. These scripts being revived include the Kulitan script of the Kapampangan people, the badlit script of various Visayan ethnic groups, the Iniskaya script of the Eskaya people, the
Baybayin (, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...
script of the Tagalog people, and the Kur-itan script of the Ilocano people, among many others. Due to the diversity of
suyat Suyat (''Baybayin:'' , '' Hanunó'o:'' , '' Buhid:'' , '' Tagbanwa:'' , '' Modern Kulitan:'' '' Jawi (Arabic):'' ) is the modern collective name of the indigenous scripts of various ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines prior to Spanish c ...
scripts, all calligraphy written in
suyat Suyat (''Baybayin:'' , '' Hanunó'o:'' , '' Buhid:'' , '' Tagbanwa:'' , '' Modern Kulitan:'' '' Jawi (Arabic):'' ) is the modern collective name of the indigenous scripts of various ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines prior to Spanish c ...
scripts are collectively called as Filipino suyat calligraphy, although each are distinct from each other. Calligraphy using the Western alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are also prevalent in the Philippines due to its colonial past, but the Western alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are not considered as suyat, and therefore Western-alphabet and Arabic calligraphy are not considered as suyat calligraphy.


Vietnam

Vietnamese calligraphy Vietnamese calligraphy (Vietnamese alphabet: , Chữ Hán: 書法越南) relates to the calligraphic traditions of Vietnam. It includes calligraphic works using a variety of scripts, including historical chữ Hán (Chinese characters), Chữ ...
is called (, literally "the way of letters or words") and is based on Chữ Nôm and
Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
, an old Vietnamese writing system based on Chinese characters and replaced it with the Latin alphabet. However, the calligraphic traditions continue to be preserved.


South Asia


India

Religious texts are the most frequent purpose for Indian calligraphy. Monastic Buddhist communities had members trained in calligraphy and shared responsibility for duplicating sacred scriptures. Jaina traders incorporated illustrated manuscripts celebrating Jaina saints. These manuscripts were produced using inexpensive material, like palm leave and birch, with fine calligraphy.


Nepal

Nepalese calligraphy is primarily created using the Ranjana script. The script itself, along with its derivatives (like
Lantsa The Rañjanā script (Lantsa) is an abugida writing system which developed in the 11th centuryJwajalapa
, Phagpa,
Kutila The Kutila inscription of Bareilly is an inscription in the Kutila script (कुटिल लिपि) dating to 992 CE that provides crucial evidence in tracing the shared descent of the Devanagari and Bengali-Assamese scripts of Northern and ...
) are used in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan,
Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...
, Mongolia, coastal Japan, and Korea to write "
Om mani padme hum ' ( sa, ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana ''Kāraṇ ...
" and other sacred
Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
, mainly those derived from Sanskrit and Pali.


Africa


Egypt

Egyptian hieroglyphs were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters.


Ethiopia/Abyssinia

Ethiopian (Abyssinian) calligraphy began with the Ge'ez script, which replaced
Epigraphic South Arabian Old South Arabian (or Ṣayhadic or Yemenite) is a group of four closely related extinct languages spoken in the far southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. They were written in the Ancient South Arabian script. There were a number of othe ...
in the
Kingdom of Aksum The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...
, that was developed specifically for
Ethiopian Semitic languages Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of th ...
. In those languages that use it, such as
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
and Tigrinya, the script is called ', which means script or alphabet. The Epigraphic South Arabian letters were used for a few inscriptions into the 8th century, though not any South Arabian language since Dʿmt. Early inscriptions in Ge'ez and Ge'ez script have been dated to as early as the 5th century BCE, and in a sort of proto-Ge'ez written in ESA since the 9th century BCE. Ge'ez literature begins with the Christianization of Ethiopia (and the civilization of Axum) in the 4th century, during the reign of
Ezana of Axum Ezana ( gez, ዔዛና ''‘Ezana'', unvocalized ዐዘነ ''‘zn''; also spelled Aezana or Aizan) was ruler of the Kingdom of Axum, an ancient kingdom located in what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia. (320s – c. 360 AD). He himself employed the ...
. The Ge'ez script is read from left to right and has been adapted to write other languages, usually ones that are also Semitic. The most widespread use is for
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
and Ethiopia.


Americas


Maya civilization

Maya calligraphy was expressed via Maya glyphs; modern Maya calligraphy is mainly used on
seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
and monuments in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Maya glyphs are rarely used in government offices; however in
Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...
, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, calligraphy in Maya languages is written in Latin script rather than Maya glyphs. Some commercial companies in southern Mexico use Maya glyphs as symbols of their business. Some community associations and modern Maya brotherhoods use Maya glyphs as symbols of their groups. Most of the archaeological sites in Mexico such as
Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...
, Labna, Uxmal,
Edzna Edzná is a Maya archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche. The site is open to visitors since the 1970s. The most remarkable building at the site is the main temple located at the plaza. Built on a platform 40 m high ...
, Calakmul, etc. have glyphs in their structures. Carved stone monuments known as
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
are common sources of ancient Maya calligraphy.


Europe

Calligraphy in Europe recognizable in the use of the Latin script in Western Europe, and in the use of the Greek, Armenian, and
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
, and Cyrillic scripts in Eastern Europe.


Western Europe


= Roman Antiquity

= The Latin alphabet appeared about 600 BCE in ancient Rome, and by the first century CE it had developed into
Roman imperial capitals Roman square capitals, also called ''capitalis monumentalis'', inscriptional capitals, elegant capitals and ''capitalis quadrata'', are an ancient Roman form of writing, and the basis for modern capital letters. Square capitals are characteriz ...
carved on stones, rustic capitals painted on walls, and Roman cursive for daily use. In the second and third centuries the uncial lettering style developed. As writing withdrew to monasteries, uncial script was found more suitable for copying the Bible and other religious texts. It was the monasteries which preserved calligraphic traditions during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the Roman Empire fell and Europe entered the early Middle Ages. At the height of the Roman Empire, its power reached as far as Great Britain; when the empire fell, its literary influence remained. The
Semi-uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...
generated the Irish Semi-uncial, the small Anglo-Saxon. Each region developed its own standards following the main monastery of the region (i.e. Merovingian script, Laon script, Luxeuil script, Visigothic script, Beneventan script), which are mostly cursive and hardly readable.


= Middle Ages

= Christian churches promoted the development of writing through the prolific copying of the Bible, the
Breviary A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such a ...
, and other sacred texts. Two distinct styles of writing known as uncial and half-uncial (from the Latin , or "inch") developed from a variety of Roman
bookhand A book hand was any of several stylized handwriting scripts used during ancient and medieval times. It was intended for legibility and often used in transcribing official documents (prior to the development of printing and similar technologies). ...
s. The 7th–9th centuries in northern Europe were the heyday of Celtic illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow, Lindisfarne Gospels and the
Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New ...
. Charlemagne's devotion to improved scholarship resulted in the recruiting of "a crowd of scribes", according to Alcuin, the Abbot of York. Alcuin developed the style known as the Caroline or Carolingian minuscule. The first manuscript in this hand was the Godescalc Evangelistary (finished 783)—a Gospel book written by the scribe Godescalc. Carolingian remains the one progenitor hand from which modern booktype descends. In the eleventh century, the Caroline evolved into the
blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...
("Gothic") script, which was more compact and made it possible to fit more text on a page. The Gothic calligraphy styles became dominant throughout Europe; and in 1454, when
Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type, movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its ki ...
developed the first printing press in Mainz, Germany, he adopted the Gothic style, making it the first typeface.


= Renaissance

= In the 15th century, the rediscovery of old Carolingian texts encouraged the creation of the humanist minuscule or . The 17th century saw the Batarde script from France, and the 18th century saw the English script spread across Europe and world through their books. In the mid-1600s French officials, flooded with documents written in various hands and varied levels of skill, complained that many such documents were beyond their ability to decipher. The Office of the Financier thereupon restricted all legal documents to three hands, namely the Coulee, the Rhonde, (known as Round hand in English) and a Speed Hand sometimes called the Bastarda. While there were many great French masters at the time, the most influential in proposing these hands was Louis Barbedor, who published ''Les Ecritures Financière Et Italienne Bastarde Dans Leur Naturel'' circa 1650. With the destruction of the Camera Apostolica during the
sack of Rome (1527) The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac. Despite not being ordered to storm the city, with ...
, the capitol for writing masters moved to Southern France. By 1600, the Italic Cursiva began to be replaced by a technological refinement, the Italic Chancery Circumflessa, which in turn fathered the Rhonde and later English Roundhand. In England, Ayres and Banson popularized the Round Hand while Snell is noted for his reaction to them, and warnings of restraint and proportionality. Still Edward Crocker began publishing his copybooks 40 years before the aforementioned.


Eastern Europe

Other European styles use the same tools and practices, but differ by character set and stylistic preferences. For Slavonic lettering, the history of the Slavonic and consequently Russian writing systems differs fundamentally from the one of the Latin language. It evolved from the 10th century to today.


Style

Unlike a typeface, handwritten calligraphy is characterised by irregularity in the characters which vary in size, shape, style, and color, producing a distinct aesthetic value, although it may also make the content illegible to readers. As with
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
or Islamic calligraphy, Western calligraphic script employed the use of strict rules and shapes. Quality writing had a rhythm and regularity to the letters, with a "geometrical" order of the lines on the page. Each character had, and often still has, a precise
stroke order Stroke order is the order in which the strokes of a Chinese character (or Chinese derivative character) are written. A stroke is a movement of a writing instrument on a writing surface. Chinese characters are used in various forms in Chinese ...
. Sacred Western calligraphy has some unique features, such as the illumination of the first letter of each book or chapter in medieval times. A decorative "carpet page" may precede the literature, filled with ornate, geometrical depictions of bold-hued animals. The Lindisfarne Gospels (715–720 CE) are an early example. Many of the themes and variations of today's contemporary Western calligraphy are found in the pages of
The Saint John's Bible ''The Saint John’s Bible'' is the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine abbey since the invention of the printing press. The project was headed by Donald Jackson, and work on the manuscript too ...
. A particularly modern example is
Timothy Botts Timothy Botts is an artist who has a focus of calligraphy. He was born in Pennsylvania and currently resides in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He is well known for his transformation of Bible verses into pieces art. Early life Botts is married and has t ...
' illustrated edition of the Bible, with 360 calligraphic images as well as a calligraphy typeface.


Islamic world

Islamic calligraphy has evolved alongside
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and the Arabic language. As it is based on Arabic letters, some call it "Arabic calligraphy". However the term "Islamic calligraphy" is a more appropriate term as it comprises all works of calligraphy by Muslim calligraphers of different national cultures, like Persian or Ottoman calligraphy, from Al-Andalus in medieval Spain to China. Islamic calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art ( arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on the page or other materials. Contemporary artists in the
Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
may draw on the heritage of calligraphy to create modern calligraphic inscriptions, like corporate logos, or abstractions. Instead of recalling something related to the spoken word, calligraphy for
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the spiritual world. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art because it provides a link between the languages of the Muslims with the religion of Islam. The Qur'an has played an important role in the development and evolution of the Arabic language, and by extension, calligraphy in the Arabic alphabet. Proverbs and passages from the Qur'an are still sources for Islamic calligraphy. During the Ottoman civilization, Islamic calligraphy attained special prominence. The city of Istanbul is an open exhibition hall for all kinds and varieties of calligraphy, from inscriptions in mosques to fountains, schools, houses, etc.


Persia

Persian calligraphy has been present in the Persian region before
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
isation. In Zoroastrianism, beautiful and clear writings were always praised.


Antiquity

It is believed that ancient Persian script was invented by about 600–500 BCE to provide monument inscriptions for the Achaemenid kings. These scripts consisted of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal nail-shape letters, which is why it is called
cuneiform script Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
(lit. "script of nails") (') in Persian. Centuries later, other scripts such as "
Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...
" and "
Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
" scripts were used in ancient Persia. Pahlavi was a middle Persian script developed from the Aramaic script and became the official script of the Sassanian empire (224–651 CE).


Contemporary scripts

The
Nasta'liq ''Nastaliq'' (; fa, , ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'', is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script in the Persian and Urdu languages, often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, rarely for Arabic. ''Nast ...
style is the most popular contemporary style among classical Persian calligraphy scripts; Persian calligraphers call it the "bride of calligraphy scripts". This calligraphy style has been based on such a strong structure that it has changed very little since
Mir Ali Tabrizi Mir Ali Tabrizi ( fa, ) was a distinguished Iranian calligrapher of the 14th century, to whom the invention of Nas-Taliq calligraphy style is attributed. Early life He lived in the 14th century. Historians have not been able to unveil details ...
had found the optimum composition of the letters and graphical rules. It has just been fine-tuned during the past seven centuries. It has very strict rules for graphical shape of the letters and for combination of the letters, words, and composition of the whole calligraphy piece.


Modern calligraphy


Revival

After printing became ubiquitous from the 15th century onward, the production of illuminated manuscripts began to decline. However, the rise of printing did not mean the end of calligraphy. A clear distinction between handwriting and more elaborate forms of lettering and script began to make its way into manuscripts and books at the beginning of the 16th century. The modern revival of calligraphy began at the end of the 19th century, influenced by the aesthetics and philosophy of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. Edward Johnston is regarded as being the father of modern calligraphy. After studying published copies of manuscripts by architect William Harrison Cowlishaw, he was introduced to William Lethaby in 1898, principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts, who advised him to study manuscripts at the British Museum. This triggered Johnston's interest in the art of calligraphy with the use of a broad-edged pen. He began a teaching course in calligraphy at the Central School in Southampton Row, London from September 1899, where he influenced the typeface designer and sculptor Eric Gill. He was commissioned by Frank Pick to design a new typeface for London Underground, still used today (with minor modifications). He has been credited for reviving the art of modern penmanship and lettering single-handedly through his books and teachings – his handbook on the subject, ''Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering'' (1906) was particularly influential on a generation of British typographers and calligraphers, including
Graily Hewitt William Graily Hewit or Graily Hewitt (1864–1952) was a British novelist and calligrapher, second only to Edward Johnston in importance to the revival of calligraphy in the country at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Hewitt wa ...
, Stanley Morison, Eric Gill,
Alfred Fairbank Alfred John Fairbank CBE (12 July 1895 – 14 March 1982) was a British calligrapher, palaeographer and author on handwriting. Fairbank was a founding member of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators in 1921, and later became its honourable se ...
and Anna Simons. Johnston also devised the crafted round calligraphic handwriting style, written with a broad pen, known today as the ''Foundational hand''. Johnston initially taught his students an uncial hand using a flat pen angle, but later taught his hand using a slanted pen angle. He first referred to this hand as "Foundational Hand" in his 1909 publication, ''Manuscript & Inscription Letters for Schools and Classes and for the Use of Craftsmen''.


Subsequent developments

Graily Hewitt William Graily Hewit or Graily Hewitt (1864–1952) was a British novelist and calligrapher, second only to Edward Johnston in importance to the revival of calligraphy in the country at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Hewitt wa ...
taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and published together with Johnston throughout the early part of the century. Hewitt was central to the revival of
gilding Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
in calligraphy, and his prolific output on type design also appeared between 1915 and 1943. He is attributed with the revival of gilding with gesso and gold leaf on vellum. Hewitt helped to found the Society of Scribes & Illuminators (SSI) in 1921, probably the world's foremost calligraphy society. Hewitt is not without both critics and supporters in his rendering of Cennino Cennini's medieval gesso recipes. Donald Jackson, a British calligrapher, has sourced his gesso recipes from earlier centuries a number of which are not presently in English translation. Graily Hewitt created the patent announcing the award to Prince Philip of the title of Duke of Edinburgh on November 19, 1947, the day before his marriage to Queen Elizabeth. Johnston's pupil, Anna Simons, was instrumental in sparking off interest in calligraphy in Germany with her German translation of ''Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering'' in 1910. Austrian Rudolf Larisch, a teacher of lettering at the Vienna School of Art, published six lettering books that greatly influenced German-speaking calligraphers. Because German-speaking countries had not abandoned the Gothic hand in printing, Gothic also had a powerful effect on their styles. Rudolf Koch was a friend and younger contemporary of Larisch. Koch's books, type designs, and teaching made him one of the most influential calligraphers of the 20th century in northern Europe and later in the U.S. Larisch and Koch taught and inspired many European calligraphers, notably Karlgeorg Hoefer, and
Hermann Zapf Hermann Zapf (; 8 November 1918 – 4 June 2015) was a German type designer and calligrapher who lived in Darmstadt, Germany. He was married to the calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse. Typefaces he designed include Pa ...
. Contemporary typefaces used by computers, from word processors like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages to professional design software packages like
Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing and page layout designing software application produced by Adobe Inc. and first released in 1999. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, ...
, owe a considerable debt to the past and to a small number of professional typeface designers today.


See also


Notes


References


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * 10th Impression * * * * * * * *


External links


Calligraphy alphabets
a list of major historical scripts (simplified version) a
Lettering Daily
*
French Renaissance Paleography
This is a scholarly maintained site that presents over 100 carefully selected French manuscripts from 1300 to 1700, with tools to decipher and transcribe them. {{Authority control Articles containing video clips Book arts Penmanship Typesetting Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity