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Arabesque facts for kids

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Flickr - jemasmith - Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Detail.
Stone relief with arabesques in the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Navaisuleyman11
Border decoration to an Ottoman miniature, early 16th century

Arabesque is an artistic decoration. It uses "surface decorations based on... interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves... combined with spiralling stems".

Arabesques are usually of a single design which can be 'tiled' or repeated as many times as desired.

The term "arabesque" is used as a technical term by art historians for decoration in Islamic art from about the 9th century onwards, and European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards. Note that Islamic geometric patterns are a different style from arabesques.

Berlín Samarra IX
Decorative panel from Abbasid Samarra, 9th century


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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Arabesco para niños

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Arabesque Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.