Panel

It was during the medieval period, in twelfth-century Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, that the pattern much later described in the West as the arabesque was fully developed. By general definition, an arabesque is a rhythmical arrangement of vine scrolls and foliate forms. But as more precisely defined by scholars, an arabesque requires the bifurcation of vines and the incorporation of split leaves; vines emanate from the tips of the leaves, assuring infinite extension of the pattern. The complex design of this panel consists of three interlaced layers of reciprocal patterns, two of which incorporate the requisite split tleaves.