Figural Illustrations in the Islamic World

‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any l ikeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)

‘And ye shall overthrow their al tars, and break their pi l lars, and burn their groves with f ire; and ye shal l hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place’ (Deuteronomy 12:3)

Jewish Attitudes towards the Arts

“Andromeda” Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib al-Thabita, Ibn al Sufi, 1009-10 C.E., Buyid, ink on paper

“Pegasus” (R) “Andromeda” (L) Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib al-Thabita, Ibn al Sufi, 1220-25 C.E., Abbasid (Iraq)

“Treatise on snakebite” Kitab al-Diryaq, Pseudo-Galen, 1199 C.E., Seljuq

Frontispiece, Kitab al-Diryaq, Pseudo-Galen, 13th Century C.E.

“Badr al-Din Lu’lu’ Hunting” Kitab al-Aghani, 1217-19 C.E., Seljuq (Iraq)

“Discussion near a Village”, Maqamat al-Hariri, Yahya al-Wasiti, 1237 C.E., Ayyubid, opaque watercolour, gold & ink on paper

“Abu-Zayd robs drugged guests”

“Lion & Leopard; Two Lions” Kalila wa-Dimna, 1307-1308 C.E., probably Ilkhanid

“Crow insults Owl”, Kalila wa-Dimna, 1317-35 C.E., Ilkhanid

“Bahram Bahrimiyan Enthroned” Great Mongol Shahnama, 1335-36 C.E., Tabriz (Iran), Ilkhanid,

opaque watercolour, gold & ink on paper

“Iskandar Emerges from the Gloom”, Great Mongol Shahnama, 1335-36 C.E., Tabriz (Iran), Ilkhanid, opaque watercolour, gold & ink on paper

“Bahram Gur & the Dragon”

“Authors with Scribe & Attendant” from Epistles of the Sincere Brethren (Rasa’il ikhwan al-safa’), 1287 C.E., Iraq, Ilkhanid

“Investiture of ‘Ali at Ghadir Khumm” from Al-Biruni’s Chronology of Ancient Nations, 1307-1308 C.E., Iran or Iraq, Ilkhanid

“Muhammad Placing the Black Stone” World History of Rashid al-Din, 1307-14 C.E., Ilkhanid,

opaque watercolour, gold & ink on paper

“Battle Scene”

“Noah’s Ark”

“Buddhist Shrine”