@marguerite.camu
History of Calligraphy: From Sacred Texts to Internet Memes
Discover the history behind a practice that was once considered more important than painting
Whether it was considered a high art or burdensome chore, calligraphy continues to thrive since it was first popularised 2000 years ago.
In ancient China, a calligraphically written character was an expression of the calligrapher’s intellect and moral values; whilst in Europe, monks grew so fed up of copying out religious manuscripts they scribbled complaints in the margins.
Even when we can now write beautiful letters with the help of technology, calligraphy continues to be a popular outlet for creativity, and for reasons that may just surprise you.
Watch the video to find out more…
China
Although the earliest form of Chinese writing can be found inscribed onto animal bones (called “oracle bones”) from as early as 1200BC, calligraphy with brush and ink took off during the Han Dynasty roughly 1000 years later.
Calligraphy was, for a long time, the most revered art form in China, more so than painting. When painting did eventually catch up with calligraphy, it still remained on a level, which is something you can see from the many Chinese artworks that feature both painting and calligraphy.
In fact, the meaning of the words a calligrapher wrote often came second to their aesthetic appeal: a simple note accompanying a gift of oranges, or a note on the weather, are today among the most valuable calligraphic artworks.
The characters on the page could also serve as a relic through which to stay close to loved ones. When the 1st century Emperor Ming of Han heard of his cousin’s imminent death - a man celebrated for his calligraphic skill - he immediately dispatched an express courier to obtain 10 random words written down by him on a piece of paper before he died.
There are several theories as to why calligraphy was - and continues to be - such an important art form in China. Firstly, there are over 7000 characters in the Chinese language, each one made up of a complex series of strokes; so perhaps it’s no wonder that writing them became an art.
Many Chinese characters have also evolved from pictures - or more precisely, pictograms (essentially graphic symbols of objects that serve as words). So in that case, writing characters wasn’t so very different from drawing after all.
The Middle East
According to Islamic lore, the first thing that Allah created was… the pen. Specifically, a reed pen, which calligraphers are still using to create beautiful calligraphic works of art to this day.
Similarly to China, calligraphers were held in higher esteem than painters and even architects in the Middle East up until the 16th century. Calligraphers occupied an exalted status due to their role of copying out the word of God in the form of the Quran.
As early as the 10th century, the use of calligraphically written words from the Quran began to be applied to textiles, jewelry, buildings and tiles, ensuring that the word of Allah was inseparable from everyday life.
But there’s a special reason why calligraphy was particularly important in the Middle East. Walk into any mosque, and you won’t spot a single visual representation of a human. This is because Islamic tradition maintains that Allah is the creator of all living creatures, so artists poured all their creativity into the lines and geometric shapes of calligraphy instead.
Europe
Western calligraphy was less "high art" and more manual labor.
The fall of Rome in 5AD spelled - or perhaps misspelled - a fall in literacy across Europe. It wasn’t until the turn of the 9th century and the entrance of Charles the Great - uniter of Western Europe - that things began to change. Charles the Great loathed ignorance, and decided to implement a cultural and intellectual renaissance across western Europe.
Who did he enlist for the task? Monks.
Literacy was firmly relegated to the monasteries as a result, where monks would copy out piles of religious manuscripts and other texts of cultural relevance. In dedicated rooms called scriptoriums, assembly lines of monks would first prepare the paper, then the scribes would painstakingly copy out one text after another, leaving spaces for the illuminators to finally adorn the manuscripts with illustrations.
This factory-like process led to the creation of a standardized script called the Carolingian minuscule. With it’s condensed letters, distinguishable shapes, capitals, and spaces between words, it was both easier to copy and to read.
Monks would often copy out scripts from dawn ‘til dusk - and some of them couldn’t even speak the language they were copying. But they didn’t suffer in silence…
Many monks left complaints in the form of “marginalia,” that is, comments scribbled in the margins. One famous comment reads “Curse on thee, O pen!” and “As the harbor is welcome to the sailor, so is the last line to the scribe.”
What would have been even more welcome to the scribe, was Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1436. Books could now be made by machines, rather than human hands - which made books quicker, easier, and cheaper to produce, and helped to increase literacy rates across Europe.
For a time, calligraphy was still used - in particular for the legal and financial documents that kept track of Europe’s growing commercial sector during the 17th and 18th centuries. In fact, when we think of calligraphy now, what we visualize is often Copperplate Cursive, a style that blossomed in this period.
But with calligraphy no longer a necessity, it gradually fell into decline as an art form. Until a certain Englishman revived it in the 1900s.
Edward Johnston - hailed as the “father of modern calligraphy” - was fascinated by medieval manuscripts and dedicated his life to learning and teaching the art of calligraphy. He is also well known for creating the original London Underground typeface and roundel, now an icon for the city itself.
Look around next time you go out. Are you choosing your coffee from a beautifully written menu board? Did you scroll past a photo of a handwritten, inspirational note on social media? Or perhaps you received a wedding invitation written with love?
In an increasingly digital society - and perhaps because of it - more people than ever are embracing the meticulous, slow, and satisfying beauty of calligraphy.
After all, there’s nothing quite like putting pen to paper.
0 comments