Bifolium from a Fragmentary Qur'an (fols. 1 and 2)
A bifolium, two facing leaves from a fragmentary Qur'an, probably made in the Islamic world around 850 and now held by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The pages are written in gold-leaf Kufic script on pale parchment with red and blue dots marking vowels and verse divisions. The angular, horizontally stretched letterforms and the rosette medallions offer a designer clear models for geometric lettering, modular grids, and restrained ornament on a warm cream ground.
