2-742-316 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Striped Silk from a Garment, 1400s. Arabic inscriptions had religious significance to viewers regardless of their legibility. This text repeats "Glory to our Lord the Sultan," a phrase that also enhances the Alhambra Palace walls. For Muslims, Arabic texts symbolized the divine revelation of God’s word to the Prophet Muhammad and recorded in the holy Qu’ran; for Spanish Catholics it represented the Holy Land. In striped silks, inscriptions often alternate with interlacing bands and palmettes. Inscribed silks have survived as Catholic church vestments.