In Islamic art this is referred to as "illumination", and manuscripts of the Quran and other religious books often included considerable number of illuminated pages. Īs well as the figurative scenes in miniatures, which this article concentrates on, there was a parallel style of non-figurative ornamental decoration which was found in borders and panels in miniature pages, and spaces at the start or end of a work or section, and often in whole pages acting as frontispieces. The Quran and other purely religious works are not known to have been illustrated in this way, though histories and other works of literature may include religiously related scenes, including those depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, after 1500 usually without showing his face.
Islamic illuminated manuscripts free#
It was therefore possible to be more free than in wall paintings or other works seen by a wider audience. This was partly because the miniature is a private form, kept in a book or album and only shown to those the owner chooses. Persian art under Islam had never completely forbidden the human figure, and in the miniature tradition the depiction of figures, often in large numbers, is central. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent.
![islamic illuminated manuscripts islamic illuminated manuscripts](https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/5584/138564/70377432_1_x.jpg)
The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, and has many modern exponents.
![islamic illuminated manuscripts islamic illuminated manuscripts](http://artkuwait.org/blk7/ay23/uploads/2011/10/A-Vision-of-Muhammad-Reading-Rumis-Masnavi-.jpg)
![islamic illuminated manuscripts islamic illuminated manuscripts](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4022/4690467017_a489e9572b_b.jpg)
Miniature painting became a significant genre in Persian art in the 13th century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests, and the highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although there is an equally well-established Persian tradition of wall-painting, the survival rate and state of preservation of miniatures is better, and miniatures are much the best-known form of Persian painting in the West, and many of the most important examples are in Western, or Turkish, museums. The techniques are broadly comparable to the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Yusuf and Zulaikha ( Joseph chased by Potiphar's wife), by Behzād, 1488Ī Persian miniature ( Persian: نگارگری ایرانی negârgari Irâni) is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa.