The Art of Calligraphy

Calligraphy literally means "beautiful handwriting". The word originates from Greek κάλλος kallos (beauty) + γραφή graphẽ (writing). It has been an art since man invented writing as a way of expressing thought. Today almost every language that can be written employs elegant handwriting when it comes to a showy display. As an art alongside painting and sketching, Calligraphy started experiencing a common presence in the range of arts in medieval ages. Many artists have developed a myriad of different styles for Calligraphy till today and these various fonts are frequently used in invitation cards, religious art and cut-stone inscriptions. Some prominent styles of Calligraphy are from Chinese, Arabic, Indian and Medieval European cultures. 

Western Calligraphy:

13th Century Bible

Western calligraphy is the writing style with Roman writing systems.  It flourished in the medieval period when churches started promoting the handwritten bibles. The ones written with a stylistic hand were of course the ones with more value and importance. And thus, calligraphy started flourishing in the West as an art through the religious texts. The image shown alongside shows an example of a thirteenth century handwritten Icelandic bible.

Today, with the advent of technology, handwritten texts have become rarer. But still, many artists still pursue the art of penmanship and also the computers are loaded with magnificent font styles of writing English and other languages.

Arabic Calligraphy: 

Ottoman Calligraphy

Arabic calligraphy evolved along with Islam in the Middle East. It has been a major medium of transmission of Quran, the holy book of Islam and thus is the most venerated art form in the Islamic world. Most of the Arabic Calligraphy is done using Arabic alphabets and it employs arabesque as the most prominent style. The alongside image shows a good example of Ottoman calligraphy from Turkey (Ottoman Empire). Even today, this art remains the major means of expression of religious scriptures and verses from Quran. 

Indian Calligraphy:

Mahabharata

On the same lines as the other religious texts, Hindu texts were also being  written in beautiful handwriting styles in old ages. The Indic scripts had developed their own forms of calligraphy and were often used for writing religious texts in Sanskrit. When Mughals ruled India, they brought Persian calligraphers in India along with them. The influence of Persian art can be seen on many texts and architecture of Mughal time. The text on Qutub Minar is a good example of Persian influence on Indian Calligraphy.

Eastern Asian Calligraphy:

Love

Calligraphy from far east employs Mandarin and Japanese scripts. The main tool of their calligraphy is a brush rather than a quill unlike Western calligraphy. The  use of brush brings a look of flowing letters in the Asian texts. As Mandarin uses symbols instead of alphabets for expressing ideas, the words mostly comprise of only one or two symbols and they can be elaborately embellished. Such decorated words can make good tattoos on your arms. Nevertheless, Asian calligraphy is a distinct art and needs a special skill with brush.

These all forms of calligraphy make the study of this art a truly profound subject. Its connection with the religious texts has made it a divine standard of writing from the old ages till today.  I hope it continues to flourish in today's world, although the use of pens and brushes is increasingly being an ignored standard over that of the keyboards and phones.