Ancient Art’s Journey to Islamic Patterns

Before Islamic geometric patterns became popular, buildings in the ancient world were decorated in very different ways. 

In the Classical era (Greek & Roman), buildings were richly decorated with geometric motifs symbolising order and harmony, floral designs such as acanthus leaves, palmettes, and lotus blossoms and animal / mythodologie figures carved or painted to tell stories (lions, eagles...)

Fragment of a Greek black-figured pyxis, 570–550 a.C. From the temple of Demeter Malophoros in Selinunte, Sicily. Museo archeologico regionale di Palermo

 Boeotian Geometric Hydria lamp, Louvre

Trabzon Ayasofya Camii, Fatih, Ayasofya Caddesi, Ortahisar/Trabzon, Türkiye

 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy  

Malte 

These early designs, especially the geometric borders, set the stage for the intricate patterns that would later define Islamic art.

 In Byzantine architecture, religious imagery dominated : Saints, Angels, and Biblical scenes rendered in colourful glass mosaics and frescoes, set against shimmering gold backgrounds.

Cappella Palatina, Piazza del Parlamento, Palermo, PA, Italy

Interior of Ayasofya Hagia Sophia Istanbul Constantinople Christian patriarchal basilica

In Sassanian Persia, palaces and sacred spaces were decorated with vegetal designs, hunting scenes and symbolic animals in stucco, in carved stone and on textile. 

Ishtar Gate (III construction stage), 7th-6th century BC, Babylon, Pergamonmuseum, Berlin

These earlier traditions were rich in narrative and figural art. When Islamic art emerged in the 8th century during early history of Islam, it gradually shifted towards abstraction, replacing human and animal illustration in sacred spaces with geometry, calligraphy, and stylised vegetal motifs—a transformation that defined a new visual language for centuries.

Islamic artists took key elements from the classical tradition, then changed them in order to create a new form of decoration that represents unity and order. Many mathematicians, astronomers and scientists contributed to the creation of this unique new style. 

Aleppo, Syria

Alhambra, Spain

mosquèe hassan 2, Casablanca, Maroc

Sources

1. Wikipedia – Islamic Geometric Patterns
Wikipedia

2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

3. Deen Arts Foundation – Islamic Geometric Patterns
deenartsfoundation.org

4. Tehran Times – Interesting Facts About Islamic Geometric Patterns
Tehran Times

5. Art of Islamic Pattern – Introduction to Geometry
artofislamicpattern.com