Coptic art

The art of the indigenous Christian community of 5th–8th-century Egypt. Flat and colourful in style, with strong outlines and stylized forms, it shows the influence of Byzantine, late Roman, and ancient Egyptian art. Wall paintings, textiles, stone and ivory carvings, and manuscript illuminations remain, the most noted examples of which are in the Coptic Museum, Cairo. The influence of Coptic art was widespread in the Christian world, and Coptic interlacing patterns may have been the source for the designs of Irish and Northumbrian illuminated gospels. For the later period of Fatimid art (10th–11th centuries), see Islamic art.