Wondrous Signature

Abstract

Chapter 4 explores the expressive qualities of the line in Persian painting and drawing. Using contemporary sources that linked linear precision to the maker’s dexterity and morality, this chapter focuses on the line as a vehicle of artistic representation. For historical viewers, the line read less as a contour designed to create motifs than as an object in its own right, endowed with plastic meaning and expressive effects. The line not only captured the sensory work of artists but it also attested to their moral qualities. Through precision, grace and minuteness, the line became the emblem of a painter’s moral character. Lyrical poetry further testified to the line’s ethical thrust by linking the calligraphic flow of the line to the mystical quest for love.