{kuh-lig'-ruh-fee}

Calligraphy (from a Greek word meaning "beautiful writing") is the art of fine handwriting. The term may refer to letters, words, pages, or even whole documents to which aesthetic principles and skilled penmanship have been applied. Paleography, the study of ancient writing, is concerned both with calligraphy and with \Tinscription\t on stone, bone, metal, or other hard surfaces (see \Twriting systems, evolution of\t). Calligraphy differs from inscription in referring only to scripts written on perishable materials such as \Tpapyrus\t, \Tparchment\t, textiles, or paper. In the Far East, calligraphy is produced by means of a pointed brush held vertically. In Western and Islamic cultures, calligraphic writing is accomplished by using a broad-edged reed, quill, or nib pen held at a slant.

Development in the West

Egyptian papyri dating from the 5th dynasty (c.2494-2345 BC) are the earliest known examples of calligraphy. The hieratic script, created to facilitate speed in writing, derived from a simplified type of pictorial or \Thieroglyphic\t lettering. In Greece two styles of writing emerged concurrently: a formal script used for literary works and a more utilitarian cursive hand used to keep accounts. At first the book hand combined capitals, based on the stiff geometric forms used in stone inscription, with rounded, more easily inscribed uncial letters. The uncial eventually superseded the monumental capital as the characteristic Greek script for literary works. A celebrated example of Greek uncial is the Codex Sinaiticus (British Museum, London), a biblical manuscript of the 4th century AD.

In Italy, Latin scripts were developed out of Greek and native Etruscan traditions. The earliest Latin book hands were composed of square capitals; later scripts employed the more rapidly written rustic capitals. Both were supplanted by the uncial as the dominant script for liturgical manuscripts from the 5th to the 11th century AD. Monumental capitals were retained, however, for use on the title page throughout the medieval period.

Middle Ages

After the fall of the Roman Empire, a bewildering variety of styles flourished in Europe because of regional preferences and the rise of specialized schools of writers, such as scriveners, notaries, forerunners of professional writing-masters, and the composers of the papal documents. These schools developed their own particular hand, often deliberately complex, in an attempt to prevent forgeries of their work. From the 6th to the 9th century AD, manuscripts were characterized by an abundance of intricate designs and letters often so elaborate as to be illegible. Notable examples of the insular scripts of Britain are the Lindisfarne Gospels (c.700; British Museum, London) and the \TBook of Kells\t (c.800; Trinity College, Dublin), in which capitals are ornamented with lively animal motifs and bits of color inserted in the voids of the letters. When Irish monks began to establish monasteries in Switzerland and Italy, their complicated, often flamboyant scripts soon spread throughout the continent.

With the classical revival that occurred during the Carolingian period, styles of writing became more like those of the antique, with its tradition of clarity and simplicity. The unifying policy of \TCharlemagne\t increased the need in his domain for a more uniform and simplified script. Under the direction of the Anglo-Saxon scholar \TAlcuin\t, a distinctive script evolved at Charlemagne's court at Aachen. This script, distinguished by the Caroline minuscule, was based on the small-letter alphabet and made generous use of white space.

By about 1100, writing began to be more condensed laterally, and the space between lines was reduced. This development led to a general decline in the quality of calligraphy throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages. In northern Europe a script of small, highly condensed letters emerged. Named Black Letter because a page of it looked black, this script served as the basis for the types developed (c.1450) for the \TGutenberg Bible\t.

Renaissance Italy

During the Renaissance, the Italian humanists revived the simpler forms of the Caroline minuscule and adapted the letters of the old Roman geometric inscriptions. Feliciano of Verona wrote (1463) one of the earliest known treatises on calligraphy, with instructions and diagrams for the geometric execution of Roman capitals. In the manuscripts of many of the Renaissance masters, fine medieval styles appear concurrently with formal Roman script. The new Italian script, however, was more than a copy of existing traditions; the Renaissance scribe contributed a round bookletter that is the basis for modern so-called roman printing. Similarly, the modern italic script is derived from that of the 15th-century scriveners of the papal chanceries. A small, easily formed hand, it was at first reserved for the minor documents issued by the Apostolic Chancery and became known as cancelleresca or chancery italic. Its popularity grew during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when it was used by Andrea Mantegna, Benvenuto Cellini, Leonardo da Vinci, and other artists, nobles, and scholars of the Italian Renaissance.

The fashion of writing private letters as a demonstration of the writer's erudition spurred interest in calligraphy, and the new chancery italic became the favorite script of the cognoscenti. In 1522, Lodovico degli Arrighi of Vicenza, a Vatican scribe, published Operina, the first writing manual ever produced, based on the chancery italic. The original simplicity of this style was eventually lost in a tangle of mannerisms and flourishes.

The later script of the 16th century was influenced strongly by the technique of engraving. The first calligraphy manual printed in copperplate, Lo scrittor' utile (The Useful Writer) by Hercolani, a notary of Bologna, was published in 1571. By these and other publications, Italian scripts were disseminated through Europe.

Spanish and French Scripts

In Spain, the script was strongly influenced by the chancery italic of the 16th-century Italian calligraphers Arrighi of Vicenza and Giovanbattista Palatino, whose styles were greatly admired by the Spaniards. The national hand, however, was devised by the 16th-century Spanish writing-master Francisco Lucas, who created a characteristic Spanish upright roundhand accompanied by an inclined minuscule. With almost no variations, this style prevailed for 200 years, until the general triumph of the English system.

In France, the cursive francoyse, a Gothic hand, appears in early books. From this, the civilite style emerged that later, in combination with the esteemed Italian Renaissance models, produced the elegant ronde (round) script, in which letters are continuously connected through sweeping strokes. This style may be designated as the French national hand and is still used today. Most of its Gothic traits disappeared in the 17th century due to the statesman Jean Baptiste Colbert's revision of the official script during the reign of Louis XIV.

British and American Scripts

French calligraphic models were published in England and Holland. In England, French influence was more pervasive than was Italian. The first English manual of calligraphy, written by Jean de Beauchesne and John Baildon, appeared in 1571. The Dutch style also influenced the English, and the calligraphic works of the draftsman Jan van de Velde I (1568-1623) were in great demand. By the 18th century, the English had developed a characteristic hand used extensively in their business documents; this became the model for commercial writing. Admiration for England's mercantile success also won admiration for England's mercantile script, which was based on efficiency and the necessity for speed. Transported to the continent, it became known as anglaise in France, letra inglesa in Spain, and by the end of the 19th century, lettere inglese were preferred even in Italy.

The American colonists also practiced the calligraphic style of England; the first American copybook, published (1791) by the writing master John Jenkins, followed the mid-18th-century English mercantile script. In the early 19th century a writing technique was devised in England by which movement of the forearm, and not the fingers, formed the script. In 1830 this method was introduced in the United States, where it became known erroneously as the American System. However, the American national hand did emerge from a combination of this method with the earlier British running hand. Platt R. Spencer (1800-64) disseminated the new style in a chain of business colleges that he established in 44 American cities during the mid-1800s; it became known as the Spencerian System.

Twentieth-Century Revival

With the development of the steel pen, the typewriter, and related technologies of modern life, the art of calligraphy declined. Changes in print \Ttypeface\t, originally derived from popular styles of handwriting, grew increasingly remote from calligraphic traditions (see also \Tprinting\t). In 1890 the Englishman William \TMorris\t attempted a revival and founded the \TKelmscott Press\t in order to experiment with new calligraphic type styles. Writing and Illuminating and Lettering, published (1906) in London by Morris's friend the educator Edward Johnston (1872-1944), stimulated a renewed interest in calligraphy among wealthy connoisseurs and collectors.

Johnston studied the Caroline minuscule and certain medieval English schools of writing, but the hand he developed was notably original. His influence was great, especially in Germany where his teachings were introduced (1910) by his student Anna Simons. By the late 1920s Germany had its own school of calligraphers. The Old Gothic hands were also championed, and the Bund fur Deutsche Schrift was established to encourage their revival. The impetus given to calligraphy by Morris, Johnston, and their followers continues. Today calligraphy is taught in art academies and schools of arts and crafts.

Far Eastern Traditions

Calligraphy in China, termed shu fa when practiced as a fine art, has an ancient and venerated history. Painting and calligraphy are considered interrelated arts and employ similar methods and materials. Not until the 5th century AD, however, was the painter accorded status comparable to that of the calligrapher; until that time, painters were considered as mere artisans, while calligraphers had been long esteemed as cultured, erudite scholars.

Chinese script dates from as early as the latter half of the 2d millennium BC. Its origins, traced through inscriptions on \Toracle bones\t and shells and on the bronzes of the Shang (c.1600-1027 BC) and Chou (1027-256 BC) dynasties, indicate that the script evolved from a system of symbols drawn to represent the object denoted. These symbols, called pictographs, eventually developed into abstract characters, the basic word-unit of the language. The Chinese character is organized within the boundaries of a square and is conceived of and executed as an independent entity. Composed of a variety of strokes, each of which can be interpretatively rendered, every character in the extensive Chinese vocabulary poses a unique design problem in terms of its own internal structure and its relationship to the characters surrounding it. Even though the brushstrokes must make intelligible patterns in order to be decipherable, rich compositional variations occur and are sought after, as compared with the emphasis on precision and repetition of form in Western calligraphy.

Chinese Scripts

The oldest calligraphic script, referred to as archaic or seal script (chuan-shu), was linear in appearance, of even thickness, and distinctly inscribed. By the time of the Han dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), a simplified version of chuan-shu was in use. Referred to as li-shu, or clerical script, it became the basis for modern Chinese. With its strokes of various widths that end broadly or in rough, uneven flourishes, it reveals the characteristic suppleness of the implement of its execution, the brush.

Li-shu remained the dominant calligraphic style until the 4th century AD. From this script emerged the three modern modes of Chinese writing. The first, designated k'ai-shu, or regular script, is a formal hand analogous to western print script; it became the model for printed characters. Hsing-shu, or running script, is a semicursive form of k'ai-shu. In it, the angular aspect of k'ai is replaced by a strongly rhythmic and flowing movement of the brush. The third derivative of li-shu is ts'ao-shu, or grass script. This much abbreviated and often illegible style is highly expressive, and great freedom is permitted. The characters are often reduced to a single continuous brush movement with subtle modulations in thicknesses and endings. All of these scripts are still practiced by Chinese calligraphers today.

Celebrated Chinese Calligraphers

The two golden ages of the calligrapher's art are the T'ang dynasty (618-906) and the Sung dynasty (960-1279). Ou-yang Hsun (557-641) and Ch'u Sui-liang (596-658) were two of the most celebrated artists of the T'ang period. The T'ang emperor Ming Huang (r. 713-755), renowned as a calligrapher, stimulated the art by his enthusiastic patronage. The Sung emperor Hui-tsung (r. 1101-25), also a great patron of the arts, personally created a highly refined style of k'ai-shu that reflects the precision and delicacy of touch found in his paintings (see \TSung Hui-tsung\t). In the Sung period, the relationship between painting and calligraphy was extremely close, and Sung artists such as \TSu Tung-p'o\t and \TMi Fei\t formulated the literati theory of painting that stressed this interdependence. With the preeminence of this theory, painting and calligraphy became more and more the prerogatives of the scholar class. Famous painter-calligraphers of the later dynasties include \TChao Meng-fu\t in the Yuan (1279-1368), WEN CHENG-\TMing\t and \TTung Ch'i-ch'ang\t in the Ming (1368-1644), and Chin Nung (1687-1765?) in the Ch'ing (1644-1912).

Japanese Scripts

Chinese script was introduced into Japan in the 7th century and was initially used to copy Buddhist texts. The Japanese monk Kukai (774-835) developed the hiragana script, which was produced by simplifying and abbreviating Chinese characters. This style was used for the early courtly literature. Two types of calligraphy are in common use today: wa-yo, related to the original Japanese script and used especially by Shintoists, and kara-yo, a Chinese style used in court circles. Under the influence of close contacts with China during the 17th and 18th centuries, interest in Chinese calligraphy grew. Today the art of writing is still held in high regard.

Islamic Calligraphy

In countries where Islam is practiced, calligraphy is of great importance. The copying of the \TKoran\t is considered a religious act, and Islamic calligraphy is much esteemed because of its religious associations. Two major styles of script developed: Kufic, a formal style with an angular character, was in evidence by the 7th century AD. Naskhi, a cursive flowing script written with rounded letters, appeared in the 10th century.

Arabic Scripts

Kufic was first developed in the Arab city of Kufa in Iraq. Its angular shape is suitable for being hewn in stone, and the style frequently appears as a decoration for buildings. From the 8th through 10th century, the Kufic seen in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq consisted of thick rounded letters with short verticals and an emphasized horizontal stroke. The earliest extant Koran (c.785; Egyptian Library, Cairo) was written in this style. By the 12th century, Kufic was almost entirely displaced by Naskhi, although chapter headings continued to be rendered in the former style. The Korans of the Mameluke period (1252-1517) were written in Thuluth or Tumar script, both variations of Naskhi. These ornamental manuscripts were frequently embellished with gold letters and delicate \Larabesque\ls drawn on a rich blue ground.

Maghribi, also referred to as Andalusian or Cordovan, was the distinctive script of Korans written during the 12th century in Spain and North Africa. Extremely rounded in form, it was seen in Spain after the \LMoor\ls moved from North Africa to Andalusia. The Maghribi Korans of the 14th and 15th centuries from Granada and Fez, while written in a less admirable hand, are characterized by the opulence of their decorative motifs.

Persian Scripts

Islamic Persian calligraphers of the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258) early adapted the Kufic script, stressing the vertical aspect of the characters. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Persian Kufic had fully evolved. Seljuk Korans of this period are typically written on illuminated pages rich with arabesques, interlaceries, and palmettes.

During the 13th century, a variation of Naskhi appeared in Persia. Designated Talik, this script inclined downward from right to left and was much used in ceramic decoration. Naskhi, however, continued to be used for religious texts. By the 14th and 15th centuries, under the Timurids, Persian calligraphy was considered a fine art. A master calligrapher of the 15th century, Mir Ali from Tabriz, is believed to have created the Nastalik script, used especially for poetry. Other celebrated calligraphers of this period were Sultan Ali al-Mashhadi, Jafar Barsunkuri, and Ibrahim Sultan, a great patron of the arts who could write in six different scripts.

The calligraphers of the Safavid period (16th-18th century) continued in the sumptuous tradition established by the Timurid artists. Among the renowned calligraphers of the period was \TSultan Muhammad\t, whose style is seen in a magnificent manuscript of poems by Nizami (1524-25; Metropolitan Museum, New York). A famous 17th-century calligrapher, Mir Imad, one of the most admired of Persian artists, copied many fine manuscripts for \TAbbas I\t.

Tughras, or the bold calligraphic emblems that prefaced imperial edicts issued by the sultans, are well-known examples of Turkish script. Often they were intricately combined with floral motifs created in a multicolored scheme. LILLIAN WEI

Bibliography:  Anderson, Donald, The Art of Written Forms (1969);  Baker, Arthur, Calligraphy (1973);  Ballantyne, James R., Principles of Persian Calligraphy (1977);  Chiang Yee, Chinese Calligraphy, 3d ed.  (1973);  Child, Heather, Calligraphy Today (1963;  2d ed.  1987);  Davis, Jinnie Y., and Richardson, John V., Calligraphy:  A Source Book (1982); Driscoll, Lucy, and Toda, Kenji, Chinese Calligraphy, 2d ed. (1964);  Drogin, Marc, Medieval Calligraphy (1978);  Fairbank, Alfred, A Book of Scripts (1949);  Fazzioli, E., Chinese Calligraphy from Pictograph to Ideogram (1987);  Miner, Dorothy, et al., Two Thousand Years of Calligraphy (1965; repr.  1976);  Nakata, Yujiro, The Art of Japanese Calligraphy (1973);  Ullman, Berthold, Ancient Writing and Its Influence (1932;  repr.  1969);  Welch, Anthony, Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World (1979).

See also: \TCarolingian art and architecture\t; \TChinese art and architecture\t; \TIslamic art and architecture\t.