Two stucco reliefs
The Samarra style, also called the beveled style, takes its name from the decoration on the many cast stucco reliefs that covered the buildings in Samarra, founded in 836 as the Abbasids’ new capital outside Baghdad.
The stucco reliefs from Samarra can be divided into groups. This relief belongs to the abstract group, where it is no longer possible to see that the contorted forms were derived from vegetal elements.
In the course of the 9th and 10th century, the Samarra style spread throughout the Abbasid Empire, all the way from Egypt to Nishapur in Iran. Its scrolling shapes were also transferred to two-dimensional decorations on ceramics and glass.
The stucco reliefs from Samarra can be divided into groups. This relief belongs to the abstract group, where it is no longer possible to see that the contorted forms were derived from vegetal elements.
In the course of the 9th and 10th century, the Samarra style spread throughout the Abbasid Empire, all the way from Egypt to Nishapur in Iran. Its scrolling shapes were also transferred to two-dimensional decorations on ceramics and glass.