Art & Design
Calligraphy Scripts Quiz
Kaisho, Kufic, Copperplate, and Carolingian β how well do you know calligraphy scripts?
Kaisho, Kufic, Copperplate, and Carolingian β how well do you know calligraphy scripts?
The Carolingian minuscule script, developed under Charlemagne around 780 AD, is the ancestor of almost every lowercase letter you read today. This 50-question deep dive traces calligraphy traditions around the world β from Roman capitals on Trajan's Column to Gothic Blackletter, Copperplate and Spencerian roundhand, Arabic Kufic and Naskh, Chinese seal and running scripts, Japanese shodo, and the Edward Johnston revival that reshaped 20th-century Western lettering.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll explore Western hands from Uncial and Insular to Humanist and Italic, tools from quill and reed to broad-edge and pointed pens, Arabic styles including Thuluth, Diwani, Nastaliq, and Maghrebi with masters like Ibn Muqla and Yaqut al-Musta'simi, the Chinese 'Four Treasures' and Wang Xizhi's 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion,' Japanese shodo forms, Zen enso circles, and the strict sofer traditions behind handwritten Torah scrolls.
Carolingian minuscule is a clear, rounded script developed around 780 AD under Charlemagne, largely by Alcuin of York at the Abbey of Tours. It is the direct ancestor of modern lowercase letters.
Kufic is an early, angular Arabic script that emerged in the 7th-8th centuries around Kufa, Iraq. It was the preferred style for early Qur'an manuscripts and remains a foundational Arabic calligraphic style.
Wang Xizhi (303-361) is known as the 'Sage of Calligraphy' in Chinese tradition. His 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion' (353 AD) is considered the greatest masterpiece of running-script calligraphy in history.
Last updated: April 2026