Arabic miniature

Did You Know?

• The Book of Knowledge of Mechanical Tricks by Al-Jazari (1206) is a famous illustrated manuscript on mechanics and automata.
• The codex Parisino-petropolitanus includes folia held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the National Library of Russia, the Vatican Library, and the Khalili Collections.

Origins

The Birmingham Quran manuscript, dated by radiocarbon to between 568 and 645 CE, is one of the earliest surviving examples of Arabic manuscript illumination. Written on parchment in Hijazi script, it features chapter divisions marked by decorated lines of basic geometric shapes painted with red lead, a pigment used since 300 BCE. Verse endings are indicated by clustered dots. Another early Quranic manuscript, the codex Parisino-petropolitanus, attributed to the 7th century, uses six oval dots ranked in three pairs to punctuate verses, with every fifth verse marked by a red alif surrounded by dots. Surahs are separated by a space. These manuscripts show the early development of decorative elements in Arabic book production.

Development

During the late 12th century, the Baghdad School emerged as a center for Arabic miniature art, though it largely died out by the early 14th century, five decades after the Mongol invasion of 1258. The period saw a great interest in theatrical shows, puppets, and shadow theatre, with miniature characters resembling figurines from such performances. Enthusiasm for the Maqamat al-Harīrī, tales of a jester character, led to the commissioning of illuminated manuscripts and the birth of a genre depicting realistic daily life. The weakening of the ban on figurative representation also contributed. The Fatimids fueled a renaissance in Arabic figurative arts, developing a distinct style, though their libraries were dispersed after the dynasty dissolved in the 12th century.

Decline

The Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 started a downturn for illuminated book art. Miniature painting continued in Mamluk Syria and Egypt, though it grew simpler and less polished. After the Battle of Anjar ended Mamluk rule, most Arab lands became edges of the Ottoman and Persian empires, with the art surviving only in distant imperial centers. Arab painters adjusted to Mongol preferences, which introduced Chinese elements, but the craft kept fading as Iraq turned into an Ilkhanate satellite and local patrons vanished.

Influences

Figurative art was known to Arabs since pre-Islamic times, with examples such as frescoes and reliefs on Umayyad palaces and desert castles. At the end of the 12th century, Byzantine illumination from Syria introduced medieval painting influences, with Christian iconography adapted to Muslim contexts. The manuscript of Dioscorides of Topkapi, for instance, took models from Byzantine manuscripts. This influence appears in manuscripts of the Maqamat, where figures wear turbans but have Byzantine features and attitudes resembling Christ or his apostles.