Islamic Arts

Author(s): Professor Sheila S. Blair

Art Books

In the years following the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century AD, the new religion of Islam spread rapidly through Arabia to North Africa and Spain in the west and Cental Asia and India in the east. Through the following 1000 years, artists and craftsmen in the areas influenced by Islam produced some of the world's most beautiful works of art: from the Albrahmra to the Taj Mahal, from illuminated copies of the Koran to exquisite decorative arts: ceramics, textiles and metalwork. This work highlights the characteristics of Islamic Art and focuses on the differences between the various arts of the Islamic lands. Dividing the era into three periods (600-900, 900-1500, and 1500-1800) the artistic development is set within historical context. In each period the book describes developments in architecture, the arts of the book, the loom and the fire - metalwork, ceramics and glassware. In every medium the examples are chosen to illuminate the sources, characteristics and achievements of Islamic art.

General Information

  • : 9780714831763
  • : Phaidon Press Ltd
  • : Phaidon Press Ltd
  • : 0.885
  • : 01 April 1997
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 01 April 1997
  • : books

Other Specifications

  • : Professor Sheila S. Blair
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : 709.17671
  • : 448
  • : 200 colour and 50 b&w illustrations, glossary, table, further reading list, index

More About The Product

Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair are among the world's leading experts in their field. A husband-and-wife team of scholars, they hold the Calderwood University Professorship in Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. They are joint authors of The Art and Architecture of Islam: 1250-1800.