The Church of St. Sergius, photographed by Bonfils in the late nineteenth century, illustrates the use of Islamic forms and motifs, like the wooden mashribiyya screens and the inlaid wooden stars of the iconostasis screen, within a Christian context. The dialogue between Islamic and Coptic styles stretches back to the architecture of the Fatimids, who appropriated decorative and structural elements of Coptic architecture into their compositions.
Sources:
Hondelink, H. ed. ca. 1990. Coptic art and culture. Cairo: Shouhdy Pub. House.
Jarrar, Sabri, András Riedlmayer, and Jeffrey B. Spurr. Resources for the Study of Islamic Architecture. Cambridge, MA: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1994.
