Illuminated Qurans from Oman

de 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 second. The origin of the second style can be easily traced back to Iran, most probably Southern Iran and there to the school of Shiraz. This style is closely related to the art of India Quran illuminations which doubtlessly had influenced Omani Quran illuminations too. The question of the origins of the fascinating first style, which has no equals in the Islamic world, can be answered in different ways and will be discussed in a separate subchapter.