INTRODUCTION
Four types of ornamentation can be found in Islamic art:
calligraphy,
figural forms (human and animal),
vegetal motifs, and
geometric patterns.
Geometry is one the most important elements of Islamic art. “Star shapes and polygons appear in all the arts and provide a source of much architectural decoration… geometric shapes are highly versatile and can be extremely complicated.”
From the simple polygons and rectangles used as framing devices to the highly complex interlaces of stars and irregular polygons.
The four basic shapes, or "repeat units," from which the more complicated patterns are constructed are:
circles and interlaced circles;
squares or four-sided polygons;
the star pattern, ultimately derived from squares and triangles inscribed in a circle;
multisided polygons.