Product Code Database
Calligraphy () is a visual art of writing. It involves the design and execution of lettering using a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Classical calligraphy differs from type design and non-classical Lettering, though some calligraphers may practice both. CD-ROM
In East Asia and the Muslim world, calligraphy is a prominent element in art. Its visual form is often influenced by the meaning of the text as a whole or the individual words.
Modern Western calligraphy is used in announcements, including wedding invitations, as well as in type and computer font design, letter cutting, hand-lettered logo design, religious art, graphic design, commissioned calligraphic art, carved stone , and memorial documents. It is also used for theatrical props, moving images for film and television, , birth and death certificates, maps, and other written works. (2026). 9780740746963, Photogenique Publishers. ISBN 9780740746963
Modern Western calligraphy incorporates a wide range of styles, from functional inscriptions and designs to fine art pieces, where the legibility of letters varies.
Contemporary calligraphy has been defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".
Common calligraphy pens and brushes include , , , , , chiselled markers, , and .
In Imperial China, the graphs on old have been preserved and can be viewed in museums. Some date back to 200 BCE and are written in the small seal script (小篆 ) style. Around 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 (隸書/隸书) (), which was more regularized and in some ways similar to modern text, was 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 (420–589 CE) and ended before the Tang dynasty (618–907).
The traditional regular script (), largely finalized by Zhong You (鐘繇, 151–230) and his followers and still in use today, is even more regularized. Its spread was encouraged by Li Siyuan (926–933), who ordered the printing of the classics using new wooden blocks in kaishu. Printing technologies encouraged shape stabilization. The shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China; however, small changes to the characters have been made. For example, the shape of 广 has changed from the version in the Kangxi Dictionary of 1716 to the version found in modern books. The Kangxi and current shapes have tiny differences, while stroke order remains the same, following the old style. See, for example, the radicals 卩, 厂, or 广. The 2007 common shape for those characters does not clearly show the stroke order, but old versions, visible on p. 41, clearly allow the stroke order to be determined.
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 never used in official texts. Some of these unorthodox variants, in addition to some newly created characters, compose the simplified Chinese character set.
There are many factors that influence the final result of a calligrapher's work. Physical factors include the shape, size, stretch, and hair type of the ink brush; the colour, pigment density, and water density of the ink; and the paper's surface texture and speed in absorbing water. The calligrapher's technique also influences the result, as the look of finished characters is affected by the amount of ink and water the brush absorbs and by the brush's pressure, angle, and direction. Changing these variables produces thinner or bolder strokes and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, acceleration, and deceleration of a skilled calligrapher's movements greatly affect the final shape of characters and give them their "spirit".
Examples of modern printed styles are Song from the Song dynasty's printing press and East Asian sans-serif. These are not considered traditional styles and are normally not written.
Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese have developed their own sensibilities and styles of calligraphy while incorporating Chinese influences.
In protest of colonization, many artists and cultural experts have revived suyat scripts that went extinct after the Spanish introduced the Latin alphabet. The scripts being revived include the Kulitan alphabet script of the Kapampangan people, the badlit script of various Visayan ethnic groups, the Eskaya script of the Eskaya people, the Baybayin script of the Tagalog people, and the Ilocano language script of the Ilocano people, among many others. The diverse array of distinct suyat scripts are collectively called Filipino suyat calligraphy. Calligraphy using the Western alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are also prevalent in the Philippines due to its colonial past. However, the Western and Arabic alphabets are not considered suyat, and this practice is not considered suyat calligraphy.
Early inscriptions in Ge'ez and Ge'ez script are dated to as early as the 5th century BCE, with 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.
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 language in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Most of the archaeological sites in Mexico such as Chichen Itza, Labna, Uxmal, Edzna, Calakmul, etc. have glyphs in their structures. Carved stone monuments known as stele are common sources of ancient Maya calligraphy.
At its height, the Roman Empire reached as far as Britain, and its literary influence remained long after its fall. The Semi-uncial 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.
In his devotion to improving scholarship, Charlemagne recruited "a crowd of scribes", according to Alcuin, the Abbot of York.Jackson 1981: 641 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.Walther & Wolf 2005; de Hamel 1994: 46–481 Carolingian is the script from which modern book type descends.de Hamel 1994: 461
In the eleventh century, the Caroline evolved into the blackletter ("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 developed the first printing press in Mainz, Germany, the Gothic style was adopted for its use, making it the first typeface. In the 15th century, the rediscovery of old Carolingian texts encouraged the creation of the humanist minuscule or littera antiqua. The 17th century saw the Bastarda from France, and the 18th century saw the English script spread across Europe and the world through 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. Therefore, the Office of the Financier 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, .
With the destruction of the Camera Apostolica during the sack of Rome (1527), the capital 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.
While West Slavic languages use Latin scripts, East Slavic languages have a different history and consequently use Cyrillic script, having evolved from the 10th century to today.
Unique features of sacred Western calligraphy include 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. A particularly modern example is Timothy Botts' illustrated edition of the Bible, with 360 calligraphic images as well as a calligraphy typeface.
Islamic calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art (Arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of , as well as on manuscript pages or other materials. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world may draw on the heritage of calligraphy to create modern calligraphic inscriptions, like Logo or abstractions.
Instead of recalling something related to the spoken word, calligraphy for is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the spirituality 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 continue to be sources for Islamic calligraphy.
During the Ottoman era, Islamic calligraphy attained special prominence. The city of Istanbul is an open exhibition hall for many kinds and varieties of calligraphy, from inscriptions in mosques to fountains, schools, houses, etc.
Nastaliq is quite popular in India and Pakistan, and is mainly used for Urdu.
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.Cockerell 1945; Morris 1882 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 inspired Johnston's interest in the art of calligraphy with 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 the London Underground, still used today (with minor modifications).
He has been credited for single-handedly reviving the art of modern penmanship and lettering through his books and teachingshis handbook on the subject, Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering (1906) was particularly influential on a generation of British typographers and calligraphers, including Graily Hewitt, Stanley Morison, Eric Gill, Alfred Fairbank 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.Gilderdale 1999 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.Baines & Dixon 2003: 81
Hewitt has received both criticismTresser 2006 and supportWhitley 2000: 90 in his rendering of Cennino Cennini's medieval gesso recipes.Herringham 1899 Donald Jackson, a British calligrapher, has sourced his gesso recipes from earlier centuries, a number of which are not presently in English translation.Jackson 1981: 81 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.Hewitt 1944–1953
Anna Simons, Johnston's pupil, helped create 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 influenced German-speaking calligraphers. Because German-speaking countries had not abandoned the Gothic hand in printing, Gothic also had an effect on their styles.
Rudolf Koch was a friend and younger contemporary of Larisch. Koch's books, type designs, and teaching impacted calligraphy in northern Europe, and later, the United States. Larisch and Koch taught many European calligraphers, notably Karlgeorg Hoefer and Hermann Zapf.Cinamon 2001; Kapr 1991
Contemporary typefaces used by computers, from word processors like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages to professional design software packages like Adobe InDesign, find their roots in both the calligraphy of the past as well as several professional typeface designers.
|
|
