DECORATION. The senlpture of the Mohamme dans was purely decorative. becoming richer as the Middle Ages advanced. In the earlier stages it pa rtook somewhat of Byzantine design, as in the mosque of Cordova and in early Egyptian and Syrian mosques. But it was then scanty and ra ther heavy. When the schools became more differ entiated in the eleventh century, into the Persian naturalistic, figured and floral; the Syrian sche matic, animal and floral; and the Egyptian. geo metric and stiff floral schools. ornament began to spread over the entire building. Even the exterior of domes and walls were covered with a (artwork cut in stone or stucco. Color was given by marble mosaics in Egypt, or in Syria and Persia by brilliantly colored tiles. The Mosque of Gina- is an early, the Alhambra at Granada a and the Mosque of Ispahan a late example. The tiles became an Griental specialty, and were imitated in Spain until re cently. Sec Woonwom: AND lvoitY. In no style of art has so varied an artistic use been made of wood. Where other styles have used stone and marble we find wood used, for instance. in carved ceil ings. windows. pulpits, lecterns, screens, lattice work, doors, balconies, parapets, tomb-casings.
In the richest pieces ivory is sometimes used in connection with wood, being either inlaid in carved panels o• being set as panels in wooden frames. Wood was used not only for the furni ture of the private house, hut for that of the mosque. such as cupboards. tables, and the classes of work mentioned above. Some of the best ex amples of floral deaitm in Egypt are preserved in wood carvings. The most magnificent pieces are probably the pulpits, such as that of Kait Bey in South Kensington Museum, and the panels from those of Mnridony, Lagin, and Kusun in the same museum. The panels of the hospital of Kalaun show a Persian style of figures and ani mals, rather than the floral and geometrical pat terns. The reading-platform of the Mosque of Kait Bey is a fine instance of marquetry and ivory, largely in polygonal design. Ebony and ivory were often combined in mosaic-like pat terns, sometimes framed in strips of metal, as in jewel eases and other boxes. But the most exten sive of all the wood carvings and inlaid work were the ceilings of mosques and palaces, as in those of Kait Bey, El-Mogyed, and El-Bo•deini.