Natural cycles and symbols of nature in shebeke art

Abstract

A shebeke is a decorative plane assembled from many carved wooden elements and pieces of coloured glass reinforced between them. Shebeke patterns are geometric archetypes reflecting major metaphysical principles, including particular natural cycles and images. The report presents an internally consistent concept of the origin of the types of shebeke compositions and the symbolism of the numerical series defining their geometry: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 32. It is shown, for example, that 10 and 12-cornered figures symbolise the Tree of Life. To convey the geometry of the Tree of Life in the visual language of shebeke, folk masters of the 18th century, creating compositions of the ground floor of the Palace of the Sheki Khans, presented it in the form of an elongated 12-cornered figure. The geometric code of the number 32 is scarce in shebeke patterns. It is a lunar cycle consisting of 28 days and four main astronomical events of a year: days of winter and summer solstice and spring and autumn equinoxes. Ilgar Rasulzadeh, a young master of shebeke, created a unique composition of shebeke in a Latin cross form (2020) for the Vatican Embassy building crowned by a circle with an inscribed 32-gon within.