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Write a 12 pages paper on manafi al-hayawan: the usefulness of animals by ibn bakhtishu. The book, itself, is a description of superstitious beliefs on the use of animals for medicinal purposes. Copies of the book, however, hold some of the most beautiful illustrations of animals one might find. In looking at the Manafi’ al-Hayawan manuscripts, there is significant beauty of the illustrative work and the work of the creators of the manuscript.

In order to understand the art of Ibn Bakhtishu’s Manafi’ al-Hayawan, one must first understand the aesthetics of the Islamic culture as it pertains to art. According to Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, art is the objectification of natural forms in order to create an understanding of the world. She says that “the work of art helps a man achieve a mental as a spiritual adjustment to the mystery of his existential situation”(166). She contends that there are three

symbolic meaning that can be found in art. The first is explicit, the second is the literally symbolic, and the third is implicit. The explicit is a representation of an object so that it can be easily recognized. This level is the surface level and that which can most easily be seen. The second concept of the literally symbolic allows for what is seen to represent or call into memory something else. When the art is viewed, what is initially seen is then transformed into something that the intellect has created from having seen the work (169).

The third type of symbolism that can be found in an artwork is that of the implicit. The implicit is concerned with the style and form that a piece of artwork as embraced. The symbolism is not only created by the visual of the piece, but by the message that is being translated by the way in which it has been created. The form of the artwork has an intent that must be taken into consideration when examining the work.