The Origins and Evolution of Painting in Islamic Art

Abstract

Islamic painting is considered one of the important branches of Islamic art in general and Islamic art in particular. It provides us with a valuable and highly significant glimpse into the social, economic, and cultural life during the Islamic eras in those vast lands of the Islamic East and West. Many of the pictorial scenes found in murals or Islamic manuscripts are a record of the Arab-Islamic environment and its daily life or historical events, in addition to depictions of the various crafts and arts practiced by artisans and Muslims at that time. Despite the flourishing of Islamic painting in diverse fields such as poetry collections, stories, and historical texts, it also appeared in scientific books on topics such as veterinary medicine, astrology, astronomy, mechanical devices, and medicinal herbs. These manuscripts were filled with small, brightly colored illustrations that attracted the attention of European scholars during the 20th century. This interest has been steadily increasing from generation to generation as a result of the annual exhibitions of Islamic art held in many European countries.

Mr. Ivan Chukin explicitly points to the importance of these international exhibitions in attracting the attention of European scholars. It is worth noting here that many references and publications in Arabic on Islamic painting aim to clarify this branch of Islamic arts and explain what Islamic painting is, its sources, and its development. This is despite the fact that some publications during   successive Islamic eras focused on the most important artistic products, such as murals, manuscript illustrations, and the pictorial centers to which the artistic styles of the Islamic painting schools belong

Among these foreign studies, we mention the book by Mr. Kunl, published in Berlin in 1923      entitled "The Art of Painting in the East."

Arabia Islamic) and Arnold's book, "Painting in Islam," was published in Oxford. In this context, it is worth mentioning some

works published in Arabic on Islamic painting in a comprehensive study, including the book by the late Zaki Muhammad Hassan, "Painting in Islam among the Persians," published in Cairo in 1936, which deals with Islamic painting in Iran, and the book by Dr. Hassan Pasha, "Islamic Painting in the Middle Ages," published in Cairo in 1959, which deals with Islamic painting from the beginning of Islam until the end of the 9th century AH/15th century CE.

This topic is painting in Islamic art, its origins, and its various and diverse studies and development throughout the ages in the Islamic world. It focuses on Islamic painting, which is represented in Islamic art that decorates walls, i.e., depicts walls, as well as its production in miniatures or pictures that were drawn to decorate the pages of manuscripts and clarify texts