TIBERGE at Galliawatch discusses the shocking appearance of a Muslim contractor’s face on the Cathedral of Saint-Jeans in Lyons. [See her entry for September 2.] Underneath the gargoyle are the words, “Allah Akbar,” as well as “Dieu est Grand.” More photos of la gargouille musulmane can be seen here.

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Peter S. writes:

Sometimes the influence runs the other way. Below is an image taken from the Islamic gallery (Room 34) of the British Museum, in which the halo of the Virgin contains stylized Kufic script based upon the Shahadah (“There is no god but God”). In this regard, the noted Islamicist Annemarie Schimmel, in Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam, has commented on “…the medieval use in Europe of Arabic religious formulas in Kufic lettering to decorate woven fabrics or even the halo of the Virgin Mary.” (p.153).

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