Islamic Art Exhibition

In Islam, as in Judaism, works of art are meant to avoid the human figure. Muhammad condemned those who would dare to imitate God's work by making figurative art. As a result, Islamic art is for the most part nonfigurative. Its designs are typically geometric or floral (Adams, 1997). Muhammad's teaching forbade idolatry and the Koran explicitly condemns the figurative representation of Allah or any of his prophets. No Islamic religious building contains the image of any living creature and Islamic religious painting and decorative arts tends to consist mainly of abstract geometric and floral patterns (Adams, 1997).

The exhibition to be mounted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) will focus on nonreligious small objects created by Islamic artists and artisans and reflecting central iconographic symbols and artistic texts in this artistic tradition. In order to illustrate the ways in which the art of the pre-Islamic Persian and Arabic world influenced later Islamic art several pieces from the earlier era will be included in the exhibition. As Gardner (1958) has commented, Islam drew heavily upon indigenous culture in the Middle East where it emerged; thus, Persian and other artistic works from the Tigress-Euphrates Valley will be included to illustrate the way in which Islam synthesized culture.

The purpose of this exhibition is to draw upon a limited number of art works and artifacts to illustrate

he fabric was made with a fine linen warp and silk weft. The patterns are based on the usual Islamic motifs (i.e., the arabesque and calligraphy) and upon Coptic and Sassanian designs of interlaced circles containing birds and animals or two bilaterally balanced figures. 7. Bullock. From a Manafi al-Hayawan (Bestiary) (late thirteenth century). This painting, taken from an early book, represents a bulky figure of a bull drawn in firm lines with strong dark stripes and horn balanced by dark areas in the hoof and tail. Persian in origin, this painting is representational and permitted under Islam because it was a form of secular art. 8. Mirak. Laila and Majnun. (sixteenth century). This miniature painting was contained in a book of poetry by Nizami, a Persian, Islamic romantic court poet. The painting represents a school apparently located in a mosque. Seated on a rug, is the turbaned priest, a teacher, holding a lash while listening to a youth who is reading. Other young men are seated while studying. The narrative elements of this secular but approved Islamic miniature painting include both decorative elements (i.e., geometrics and arabesques) and architectural frames for the scenes that are depicted. It is a de