Panel

The Islamic tendency toward highly abstract forms and away from naturalistic effects is evident in this panel. The 'Abbasid beveled style, so-called because the pattern lines are carved at an oblique angle to the surface, initially appears in the stucco decoration of houses and palaces of Samarra, the ninth-century capital in Iraq. This was the first truly innovative style created by early Muslim artists. With its harmonious and rhythmical arrangement of absract forms that lend themselves to endless repetition, the beveled style was an important step in the development of the true arabesque. The elements in this panel seem based largely on vegetal forms.