This illuminated manuscript of the Ardashirnama reveals how 17th-century Iranian Jews visually and poetically emphasized their identities as both Iranian and Jewish.
Late period
Emeralds symbolized the exotic and the rare—the perfect emblem to encapsulate the wealth and aspirations of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan’s portrait, emeralds, and the exotic ...
This Muslim prayer carpet shares striking visual similarities to a Jewish carpet meant to cover the Torah ark
Ottoman prayer carpet with triple-arch design
Sinan, one of the most famous architects in the Ottoman Empire, draws inspiration from the Hagia Sophia and arguably surpasses it
Mimar Sinan, Şehzade Mosque, Istanbul
The Muradiye Mosque's interior is covered with wall paintings and colorful tiles—like a museum of fifteenth-century Ottoman architectural decoration.
Muradiye Mosque
Magnificent blue-and-white tiles adorn this room in the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul.
Topkapı Palace tiles
This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent.
Humayun’s tomb
Curious about the vibrant colors in Mughal paintings? Learn about the art of imperial painting here.
Exploring Color in Mughal Paintings
This luxury pen-case is made from papier mâché with lacquer painting, a tradition inspired by Chinese lacquer.
Lacquer pen-case, signed by the artist Ashraf ...
The precision of the line and the attention to texture allow this drawing to stand on its own as a finished work.
Groom and Rider drawing
In this partly unfinished building, Persian master builders experimented with architectural and structural solutions later used in the construction of Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire.
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
Explore the rich effects of a painting from an illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh — or ‘Book of Kings’ — the national epic of Iran composed by poet Firdawsi around 1010.
Looking at Persian painting
Safavid nobles wrapped themselves in poetries of love, wine, and youth
Wine bearers in landscape, a Safavid textile
The anonymous figure depicted in this painting embodies the fashion of Isfahan, Iran’s capital city under the rule of Shah 'Abbas I
Riza-yi ‘Abbasi, portrait of a young page ...
The single page format of this painting shows the trend among seventeenth-century art patrons to collect particularly fine examples of drawing, painting or calligraphy on single pages
Mir Afzal of Tun, a reclining woman ...
Riza-yi ʿAbbasi is famous for his drawings of individual or paired figures on single pages
Riza-yi ʿAbbasi, Seated calligrapher
Likenesses of rulers and dignitaries played a significant role in diplomacy.
Portrait of Shah ‘Abbas I of Iran
Brilliantly painted manuscripts. Exquisitely detailed miniatures. Fine silks. Complex, ornate palaces. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent.
The Safavids, an introduction
Learn about the complex history and contemporary restorations at Bayt Farhi, a Sephardic palace in Ottoman Damascus
Bayt Farhi, a Jewish house in Damascus
Producing this lush miniature involved many Persian artists—and likely some familiarity with Chinese sources.
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