Micrography (fromGreek, literally small-writing – "Μικρογραφία"), also calledmicrocalligraphy, is aJewish form ofcalligrams developed in the 9th century, with parallels in Christianity and Islam,[1] utilizing minuteHebrew letters to form representational, geometric and abstract designs. Colored micrography is especially distinctive because these rare artworks are customarily rendered in black and white.
The artwork is created from text that forms an image when viewed at a distance, creating an interplay between the text and image. Thephotomosaic, whose tiny individual images form a mosaic when viewed from a distance, is a modern analogue. Another modern analogue isASCII art, where ASCII or extended ASCII characters are arranged to form an image on a computer screen and/or printout.
There is a relationship between this form of art, employing both digital and analogic symbols, and the restrictions on images found in thesecond commandment. Micrography provides a unique solution to the visual artist who wishes to remain devout in observation ofJewish law, by using only text, not images per se. As similar restrictions exist in certainMuslim societies, this solution has been adapted inIslamic calligraphy to theArabic alphabet as well.
 | This article aboutcalligraphy is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |