| Government of India Central Publication Branch | |
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| The aim, however, is never merely to ornament, but rather to transfigure | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |
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10| Much of the art of Islam, whether in architecture, ceramics, textiles or books, is the art of decoration — which is to say, of transformation | "Artisans and Mathematicians in Medieval Islam |
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| Perhaps most importantly, the Word, expressed in endless calligraphic variations, always conveys the impression that it is more enduring than the objects on which it is inscribed | van den Hoeven, Saskia, van der Veen, Maartje |
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