Arabic miniature

Arabic miniatures are small paintings on paper, usually book or manuscript illustrations but also sometimes separate artworks. The earliest date from around 1000 AD, with a flourishing of the artform from around 1200 AD.

Arabic miniature artists include Ismail al-Jazari, who illustrated his own Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.

Gallery

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  “Kitāb mukhtār al-ḥikam” by Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik, 13th century manuscript.
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  Arabic miniature featuring Harith Gassani.
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  “Hadith Bayad wa Riyad”, an illustrated manuscript from al-Andalus.
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  Maqamat of al-Hariri (43rd maqam), The Story of the Lost Traveler.
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  Maqamat of al-Hariri. Village scene with animals by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti.
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  Abû Zayd preaches in the mosque of Samarkand, circa 1300. Maqamat of al-Hariri Syrian manuscript.
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  Elephant clock by al-Jazari.
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  Arab dhow, c. 1230 AD, by an Iraqi painter.
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  A giraffe from “Kitāb al-ḥayawān” (Book of the Animals) by Al-Jahiz.
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  Arabic manuscript illumination from the 12th century CE showing the Brethren of Purity.
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  1310 Syrian illustration of “Kalila wa-Dimna”.
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  The Maqamat of Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani, 9th century.
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  The frontispiece of a manuscript of “Kitab al-Aghani” of Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani.
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  Maqamat of al-Hariri by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti.
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  “Kitāb mukhtār al-ḥikam” by Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik, Syrian manuscript circa 1250.

See also

• Baghdad School
• Mughal Painting