
The text itself suggested that those who participated in the solemnities were a part of the history of salvation.

In a world dominated by rituals, this had quite an important meaning, especially in light of the fact that the chant was performed during the most solemn liturgy of the year, the Easter Vigil, which is meant to represent the deeds of Redemption. The intercession was formulated as "una cum papa, et episcopo, et duce," which suggested that ducal power and ecclesiastical authority, while not explicitly equal, shared a similar importance. Throughout Grabar seeks to serve admirers of Islamic art as well as readers interested in the ways of perceiving and understanding the arts in general.Presumably between 13, scribes produced a manuscript for Bolesław II of Mazovia, which contained a prayer for the ruler. A major portion of this book explores four particularly influential forces on the development of ornament: writing (calligraphy), geometry, architecture, and nature. From this discussion ornament emerges as a consistent intermediary between viewers and artistic works throughout time." "Grabar defines ornaments as agents that are not logically necessary to the perception of a visual message but without which the process of understanding would be more difficult - they in fact often draw us into a work by strengthening the pleasure derived from looking at it.

Grabar analyzes early and medieval Islamic objects, ranging from recently discovered frontispieces in Yemen to tilework in the Alhambra, and compares them to Western examples, treating all pieces as testimony of the work, life, thought, and emotion experienced in one society. Based on universal motifs, ornamentation occurs in many artistic traditions, although it seems to reach its most expressive, tangible, and unique form in the art of the Islamic world.

Summary: "In this richly illustratcd book Oleg Grabar not only shares a veteran art historian's love for the sheer sensuality of Islamic ornamentation, but also uses this art to show how ornament in general enables a direct, immediate encounter between viewers and art objects from any culture and time period.
