text:
Talk:Civilian

Colloquial
A suggested wording for colloquial usage is (as above):"'In a colloquial context, the term typically refers to anyone who is not only a non-military member, but also not a sworn employee of a law enforcement agency or fire department.'"I see some problems with this: The bulk of our article is given over to the primary meaning, and the lede should not give the secondary meaning undue weight. Our current wording follows and is distinct from the primary meaning and reads:"In some nations, uniformed members of civilian police or fire departments colloquially refer to members of the public as civilians."That seems to be an adequate summary of the situation. --Pete (talk) 20:51, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * This conflates the two distinct usages:
 * Primary usage: non-miltary
 * Secondary usage: muggle, "not one of us", "not a cop"
 * "typically" - unsourced as stated. The term typically refers to the primary usage, but the secondary usage is limited in both geographical scope and usage. It is not "typical".
 * "not a sworn employee". That's an odd phrasing. Also, describing police as "sworn" is an American thing.
 * The key point about describing non-cops as civilians is that it comes from cops themselves. The average citizen might rightly call themselves a civilian, but they don't do so to distinguish themselves from members of the police force. The cops use the term to describe people who aren't cops.
 * While your last proposal is considered an improvement, "some nations" doesn't really change the fact the two sources Readers are going to be really confused of what "some nations" constitute when they checked the primary sources, then scratch their heads to the point some others might be tempted to edit them out. You point out that the word "typically" as unsourced, yet you're doing this again with the geographical areas in the two sources that directly don't provide for anything. It's a lot easier to just leave them out and let the readers figure out for themselves.

 * "Sworn" is not definitely an American thing at all. Again, stop with it that repetitive geographical area nonsense, you're seemingly basing it on impression rather than having an adequate source to provide with such a notion you insisted upon. Police officers in other nations are "sworn" to defend their respective societies from crime and terrorism to distinguish themselves from the general population they serve. I mean, you and I are not officers, we don't have to worry about having to patrol other areas and arrest other dangerous suspects. Hence, the development of informal usage that one cannot downplay at all.

 * You specifically said the "key point of non-cops came from cops themselves". While it may be true, there are news media (including the Australian Broadcasting Company and France 24) that also uses the distinction, the ones I gave you earlier in the first place. We already went over this.

 * Overall, I might considered this a slight improvement, but half of your statements aren't really accurate and aren't backed up by reliable sources. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 21:23, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * You miss the point. You are claiming a wider application and more authority than is supported by any of the sources. Find me a RS that uses "typically" in the sense you support, please. --Pete (talk) 22:04, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * You missed the point, you don't have any adequate sources to back some of your statements that I have a problem with, not to mention they are based on impressions rather than actual evidence. Find me a RS that uses "some nation" or "in the United Staets" that nation this and that uses the distinction, please. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 22:14, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * If you want my help in changing the article in the direction of text you prefer, you're not doing a very good job. I have better things to do right now. I'm off to take a dump. Cheers. --Pete (talk) 22:18, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I am helping you and I laid out such concerns to you, but instead of heeding concerns, you get very defensive and defend viewpoints that don't concur to the actual heeding concerns of others. I'm not mad when someone brings up concerns about my proposals, but when I do to you in response to your requests, you are not taking this very well and go "I don't want to hear your concerns/proposals, I'm gonna go now!" Please don't do that. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 22:34, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

Position of the "Colloquial usage" section
In the current revision the Table of Contents (TOC) is as follows:
 * 1) Etymology
 * 2) Legal usage in war
 * 3) Civilians in modern conflicts
 * 4) Civilian protection under international humanitarian law (IHL)
 * 5) Colloquial usage

In the Revision 18:58, 21 October 2021 as a result of a edit by User:XXzoonamiXX the TOC is:
 * 1) Etymology
 * 2) Colloquial usage
 * 3) Legal usage in war
 * 4) Civilians in modern conflicts
 * 5) Civilian protection under international humanitarian law (IHL)

User:XXzoonamiXX why do you think that the section "Colloquial usage" ought to be placed in position 2 (before the section "Legal usage in war") and not at position 5 (after the sections on IHL)? -- PBS (talk) 22:42, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Because I don't see it any different like it doesn't matter if it's on the first paragraph or last paragraphs in some Wikipedia articles. If you want to put in the last paragraph, I'm fine with that. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 22:46, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

 * "". To be clear: I asked about the section not the paragraph in the lead. I do not want to "put" the section anywhere as I am not editing the article at the moment. I do think that as it is "Colloquial usage" it ought to be placed after the main usage to meet WP:UNDUE policy "". I am pleased that "" (as section 5 in the TOC).

 * If the section "Colloquial usage" is placed fifth in the TOC. Do you accept that the most appropriate place to summarise its inclusion in the lead, is after the summary of the Civilian usage in IHL? — PBS (talk) 23:42, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I think it's just weird to put just this sentence "a civilian is a person who is not a member of the armed forces" then nothing happens after at all. It just feels empty and it's too short of a lead summary paragraph for that, when the civilian IHL section has the very most of all, like two to four long sentences. A colloquial sentence after the "a civilian is a person who is not a member of the armed forces" statement would be a great way to expand upon the first leading paragraph, so both separate sentences feel great with each other. I just don't feel both primary and informal definitions have any impact on the last colloquial usage being placed at the bottom. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 00:12, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

First sentence in the lead
Now that there is less pressure on the need to place citations on the first sentence, I think that XXzoonamiXX point menioned in the last section '' is valid and can be addressd by removing it. Then altereing the start what is now the second paragraph (and would become the first sentence) to:

I see this a first step in changing the lead into a summary of the article rather than a referenced stand alone section, particullarly as User:XXzoonamiXX has stated above in "":
 * that "

so the sequence in the lead can reman IHL followed by mention of "Colloquial usage"

Thoughts? --PBS (talk) 11:42, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The first leading sentence is without any context, whereas the last two leading paragraphs does. Currently, the IHL second paragraph also produces the almost same definition as the first, making the first one so redundant. I think eliminating the lead makes sense since the body article paragraph only have the IHL and colloquial usage sections due to reasonable contexts, since we also have the IHL covering almost the same definition as the first. If we come to this agreement, I'll do the eliminating the first leading paragraph and leave only the IHL and colloquial usage instead. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 16:50, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Why have you 'reverted' me & restored multiple section discussions about the same topic? GoodDay (talk) 17:14, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I'll reply on your talk page — PBS (talk) 17:32, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

 * XXzoonamiXX I suggest you do not change the lead. If you remove the first sentence that could be seen as a revert. There is nothing currently so wrong with the lead that it needs an immediate edit. Lets wait and see what others think. — PBS (talk) 17:56, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

 * That makes sense to me. The lede summarises the article. One paragraph for the primary meaning of non-military, a second for the colloquial, reflecting the amount of coverage given in the body.

 * I'd like to see sources pushed down into the body of the article for both meanings. Which is where they belong, supporting a full explanation of the topic, instead of trying to cram everything into the lede. --Pete (talk) 19:45, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Seriously man, why do you keep on insisting on adding such a repetitive word in the last leading paragraph when non-military means the same thing? The current dictionary source regarding informal usage doesn't even directly support what you said at all, and it's not even based on consensus except moving the refs down to the body paragraph. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 09:00, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I see you have made the first edit. The lead already looks better. As you have said the information that only appears in the lead needs to be moved down into the relevent sections and then summarised one obvious candidate are the quotes because if they remain in the lead they have to have supporting inline citations. My previous summary (Revision as of 13:43, 8 September 2015) is (I think) worth mining for ideas:

 * — PBS (talk) 20:39, 24 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I disagree entirely that "a civilian is a person who is not a member of the armed forces" is insufficient. This is the case in both IHL and domestic law in most (all?) nations. There is a clear demarcation in national domestic legislation between civilian and military law. Importantly, domestic law applies in both times of peace and war, whereas IHL is primarily concerned with times of war. I question therefore why the lede sentence is so heavily caveated and concerned with the less-common scenario.

 * The current lede complicates matters unnecessarily since it implies there may be a different legal definition outside of IHL (which there is not). Legally, a civilian is a person who is not a member of the armed forces - that's it. As discussed in "Legal Usage in War", there are civilians who may become unprivileged under IHL because they have taken up arms. They are still civilians, but have lost the "civilian protection" of IHL. The article states "The ICRC has expressed the opinion that "If civilians directly engage in hostilities, they are considered 'unlawful' or 'unprivileged' combatants or belligerents ... They may be prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action", which reinforces the relevance of domestic law. A real-world example would be the US using the concept of "unlawful combatant" within domestic US law to detain Afghan civilians in Guantanamo Bay without the normal protections of PoW status (which would be invoked under the Third Convention if they recognised them as members of a military).

 * There is then the colloquial and informal usage. The article should make this clear to readers.

Hemmers (talk) 10:20, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

 * PBS, Pete keep on insisting on adding such a repetitive word in the last leading paragraph when non-military means the same thing, and now he wants to take action against me just because I change his repetitive wording. The current dictionary source regarding informal usage doesn't even directly support what he said at all, and it's not even based on consensus except moving the refs down to the body paragraph. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 09:00, 25 October 2021 (UTC)
 * You were warned against reverting without prior consensus. You have now reverted twice without gaining consensus here. I have asked you on your talk page to self-revert or face the consequences. I am implementing improvements to the article as discussed above and you are edit-warring to your preferred version. You have been advised repeatedly not to do this, and to go through wikiprocess such as an RfC if you think that your preferred wording needs community support against the regular editors of this article. You have not taken this advice. You have continued to edit-war with no significant discussion. I think you are being disruptive, and deliberately so. --Pete (talk) 09:12, 25 October 2021 (UTC)
 * You're the one winging over what is considered a really minor issue in the informal leading paragraph, and I don't know why you insist in keeping the repetitive word in when non-military means the same thing, nor the source directly supports what you said. The admin you linked has nothing to do with the current informal definition and has more to do with guideline violations than information edits. "I think you are being disruptive, and deliberately so" What? All I did just moments ago is improving and deleting something that is either repetitive or not worthy to the article's topics. What is the problem with replacing civilian with non-military, when both means the same thing? So why are you winging this over just different, but one word with the same meaning? XXzoonamiXX (talk) 09:21, 25 October 2021 (UTC)
 * @XXzoonamiXX you wrote above ". I think you are missing the point of the lead section. A good lead does not have to be directly supported by citations, instead it ought to be a reasonable summation of the text in the body of the article. -- PBS (talk) 09:43, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

 * The current first leading sentence is the paragraph doesn't provide a direct definition and feels a bit too long. Therefore, my proposal for the IHL leading paragraph:

 * "A civilian under international humanitarian law is 'an individual who has no direct part in any military action or hostilities, nor belongs to armed forces'" with this quote directly taken from this citation oxford.universitypressscholarship IHL definition

 * As I say again, the current ref in the first leading paragraph doesn't directly provide anything relating to IHL especially with the two long quote marks so my link is appropriate in this case as it provides a direct link to my quotation. It is also reworded in a short way in order to collaborate with the actual definition provided by the proposal source so as making readers easier to understand. The current ref would be moved down to body.

 * In the colloquial usage leading paragraph, the sentence "In some nations, uniformed members of civilian police or fire departments colloquially refer to members of the public as civilians" would be changed to "In some nations, uniformed members of non-military police or fire departments colloquially refer to members of the public as civilians." Having two same but different definitive words is better, as there's no need to have two exact same words in the same simple, sentence for informal usage context. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 20:10, 27 October 2021 (UTC)
 * We don't need any cites in the lede. It should all be covered by well-written and well-sourced text in the body of the article. I think we can usefully show two dictionary definitions, one for each meaning.

 * In the colloquial usage definition, "civilian" and "non-military" clearly are not equivalent in your view, XXzoonamiXX, otherwise you would not be pushing so very hard for one over the other. The phrase "non-military police" is a very unusual one and I don't think we should use it; we are trying to inform our readers, not puzzle them. --Pete (talk) 09:37, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The current ref in the first sentence doesn't support the quotation in the lead and needs to be replaced. The current ref would be moved down to body. My ref supports a simple summary of the civilian IHL definition. We also don't need any repetitive word in the colloquial usage sentence when non-military is the same thing as the civilian and no harm could be done by changing it. XXzoonamiXX (talk) 17:54, 28 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I'm open to suggestions on sources in the lede. I think we can all work together on this. As for "non-military" is the same thing as "civilian", two points arise. If they are the same, why change one familiar phrase for one that is not in general use. Second, you are pushing very hard for one term over the other, so you yourself do not see them as equivalent. I see no reason to change something for no good purpose. --Pete (talk) 02:03, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

The current citation on the first sentence does not suport the quotations. The quotes along with suporting citations were introduced into the lead of the article in July 2020 (eg with Revision as of 00:08, 5 July 2020 by an editor using an IP address) (it was also introduced with Revision as of 14:35, 4 July 2020 by an IP address and was reverted the same day). So I suggest that if needed the quotes are checked against the old citations and if they are to be kept moved down into the body of the text, replacing them with a summary in the lead. -- PBS (talk) 13:34, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Could someone explain what is the obsession with International Humanitarian Law? Civilian is not related solely to IHL. A Civilian is anyone not a member of the armed forces. This is reflected not only in IHL but also (for instance) US Federal Law where the USMCJ covers members of the armed forces and (in some circumstances) civilian contractors - specifically recognised as civilian. Anyone not military is a civilian and there's no middle ground. Even civilian contractors subject to military discipline are civilians (although in a warzone they may be treated as a PoW under the Third Convention). Police officers in the entire anglosphere are servants of the civilian administration, enforcing domestic civilian law. If a Police officer commits a crime, they will be tried under civilian criminal law like any other member of the public - not in a military tribunal. If we ask the US or British Supreme Courts if a Police Officer is a civilian, they will say "of course" in the context of domestic law - not IHL. Importantly, domestic law applies in both times of peace and war, whereas IHL is primarily concerned with times of war. I question therefore why the lede sentence is so heavily caveated and concerned with the less-common scenario when the shorter version is concise, clear and correct.Hemmers (talk) 10:20, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

 * "" Because listing IHL avoids a problem of systemic bias which using examples in the anglosphere creates. See for example the lead sentence to the Genocide Convention using IHL avoids having to list individual municipal laws. -- PBS (talk) 18:56, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

 * Okay, fair point, but that was one example. So what we're saying is that lede follows article but the article is incomplete and we need a section for "usage in domestic law" which cites examples from around the world including non-English speaking countries. For instance the German Constitution is very clear on the demarcation of civilians and military. It's prohibited to deploy military personnel domestically in any sort of combat role during peacetime (which caused issues during the Munich Massacre because the Police were on their own and they couldn't deploy army snipers). Having done that, Lede follows article and we can change the first sentence to the correct definition of "A civilian is anyone not a member the armed forces" with no caveats or half-measures (which follow the citations but are nonetheless misleading by omission). The article is titled "Civilian", not "Civilians under IHL", so we need to reflect the different usages - IHL, domestic law and the informal/colloquial. --Hemmers (talk) 10:47, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

IHL
User:HughLilly changed the text of the first sentence to "Under international humanitarian law, a civilian is "a person not in the armed services or the police force"" and added a source that did not support this claim. I think it's pretty clear that a dictionary definition does not override international humanitarian law. --Pete (talk) 05:20, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Civilians in domestic law and Britain
@user:Hemmers in Revision as of 17:09, 15 November 2021 "Added segment on use of civilian in domestic law and differing practices on separation of military/civilian agencies in Europe & Americas. Needs more Asia."

You added a paragraph starting

However you did not address the issue of Operation Banner (1969–2007). It was the longest continuous deployment of British Armed Forces in history and took place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. British troops have been deployed against several armed insurrections in Scotland and Ireland since the acts of union in 1707 and despite the bill of Rights of the Glorious Revolution.

What are your thoughts on this. -- PBS (talk) 11:27, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

 * @PBS This is all true. I'm not sure there's a "however" - those interventions were with approval of the government and do not contradict the text as it is currently written, they would merely extend it. The British Army doesn't deploy domestically except with special ministerial permission. Albeit Banner certainly turned into a long-term, almost Gendarme style system and Westminster did not approve individual interventions in the same way they did for the Iranian Embassy Siege. I do take your point in that respect. It should probably be mentioned in the same fashion as the South African Commando system - "this is a thing that happened but no longer happens. Read about it  ". Not because I want to diminish the history of Northern Ireland or the impact of Op Banner, but because there's a lot to say which could wander off-topic from this article and would only duplicate what is probably already written elsewhere. Certainly worth including, but probably not multiple-paragraphs worth? Hemmers (talk) 10:29, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
 * @PBS I have added some lines referencing Op Banner and significant incidents within the Troubles (Bloody Sunday). Of course I don't wish to copy-paste whole sections in from other articles. Does that seem sufficient? I am not wholly convinced that pre-20th century actions are entirely relevant to the topic (mostly comparing contemporary/current policies nd approaches)Hemmers (talk) 10:59, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

 * The point is that as Britain does not have a written constitution there is huge flexability in the use of the military within Britain. The major constraints are two fold the Rule of the Major Generals (shudder) in the folk memory of the Anglosphere, and the fact that traditionally the upper echelons of the military are from the same background as the elites in Britain and if they had wanted to rule the country as opposed to serve fight in the military they would have gone into politics as young [wo]men. That is why the army opposes peacetime conscription, they don't see it as the job of a profesional army to act as a finishing school (or borstal) for young men.

 * However when the security of the state is really threatened internally then both polititians and the senior military command are willing to deploy soldiers and everyone knows this. Examples include Ireand 1919 and Operation Banner towards the end of the century. However there are other examples such as Tonypandy riots (1911) which were a tactical victory for the army but a stratigic loss for the government and the General Strike in 1926 a victory for both.

 * As an aside, another big issue for the Army high command was how to deal with a mutiny in a sizable section of the Army (see the Curragh mutiny 1914), it never came to a head because of the start of First World War. It is something that if I were in the Army, I would be drawing up contigency plans anticipating the constitutional wheels falling of Scotland.

 * During the General Strike in 1926 it has often been mentioned in popular litrature how none revolutionary and none violent it was compared to similar events in continental Europe during the same period. Both the Trade Union leadership (and of course the British government of the day) portrayed it that way. However the army was deployed in London with access heavy machine guns to back up the metropolitan police if the police failed to control the striking dockers (and the dockers knew it), or if they (the police) joined the strike.

 * I have no idea how one includes the sublities of this constitutional position in the article (without finding a reliable source or three to back it up), but it is more subtle than "The British military does not intervene in law enforcement matters other than by exceptional ministerial approval."  Yes that is sort of true and has been since the Restoration in 1660, but it is more neuanced than that and the beauty of an unwritten constitution means that to paraphrase the quote in the lead into the "British English" article "the ambiguities and tensions in the word[s] 'British [unwritten constitution]' ... can be used and interpreted in [several] ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity".
 * — PBS (talk) 11:11, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Civilian


text:
Talk:Incidence algebra

Questions
I take it the zeta function is always invertible? (I figured that one out.) Is there a characterization of the invertible elements in the algebra? AxelBoldt 23:36 Jan 8, 2003 (UTC)

Mike, non-logged in users cannot mark edits as "minor" anymore, because some have used that to hide vandalism. Maybe it would be good if you logged in anyway, because then people could leave you messages on your user page. AxelBoldt 04:36 Jan 9, 2003 (UTC)

What is exactly the connection with classical Euler characteristic ? Is the classical Euler ch. equal to the incidence Euler ch. of the poset of faces of the polyhedron ? It would be nice to put that information both in this article and in Euler characteristic. --FvdP 18:47 Jan 9, 2003 (UTC)

Good question. I find I can't answer it as quickly and efficiently as I would have hoped; stay tuned ..... -- Mike Hardy

I added a sentence about this (and took out the sentence that μ(0,1) is always an integer, as the Mobius function is integral by definition). Dotdotdotatsignapostrophe (talk) 22:54, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Is it easy to see that the Mobius function defined as in the article is both an inverse on the right and on the left to zeta, or is it necessary to go along the lines of "by two similar but different constructions, zeta is invertible on the left and on the right, hence said inverse is the same on both sides"?SamBaum (talk) 21:45, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Possible move
Having looked at the several articles dealing with aspects of Moebius inversion on posets, I have come to realize that this topic needs some reorganization. This is a beautiful, unifying concept in combinatorics and one does not see that from these articles unless you already know what to look for. In this article, the topic in its general form is most clearly laid out, but it is buried under an article title which does not hint at this content. I think that this article should be called Moebius inversion (combinatorics) and it should contain a section on the most general order/algebraic setting in which such inversions are defined, i.e., Incidence algebras. To support this move I'd point out that most of the links to this page are links to Moebius inversion and in the text treatments of Moebius inversion, the term incidence algebra is rarely used. There may be other ways to deal with this issue and I'd like to hear some suggestions. Bill Cherowitzo (talk) 20:48, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Confusion about the definition
I've been learning about incidence algebras by reading different articles on the internet, and the definition given here strikes me as incomplete. Currently it sounds like you could just pick any functions f[a,b], regardless of how a and b relate. Elsewhere I've read that if a !≤ b, then f(a,b) = 0. It's also unclear how different choices of f(a,b) relate to each other. What if I picked f[a,b] = 4 and some other person picked f[a,b] = -30. Would we be dealing with "different incidence algebras"? "Different bases"? I'm just scratching my head in wonder for now :) Macaw scopes (talk) 22:21, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Incidence algebra


text:
Islamic art

Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide range of lands, periods, and genres, Islamic art is a concept used first by Western art historians in the late 19th century. Public Islamic art is traditionally non-representational, except for the widespread use of plant forms, usually in varieties of the spiralling arabesque. These are often combined with Islamic calligraphy, geometric patterns in styles that are typically found in a wide variety of media, from small objects in ceramic or metalwork to large decorative schemes in tiling on the outside and inside of large buildings, including mosques. Other forms of Islamic art include Islamic miniature painting, artefacts like Islamic glass or pottery, and textile arts, such as carpets and embroidery.

The early developments of Islamic art were influenced by Roman art, Early Christian art (particularly Byzantine art), and Sassanian art, with later influences from Central Asian nomadic traditions. Chinese art had a significant influence on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles. From its beginnings, Islamic art has been based on the written version of the Quran and other seminal religious works, which is reflected by the important role of calligraphy, representing the word as the medium of divine revelation.

Religious Islamic art has been typically characterized by the absence of figures and extensive use of calligraphic, geometric and abstract floral patterns. Nevertheless, representations of human and animal forms historically flourished in nearly all Islamic cultures, although, partly because of opposing religious sentiments, living beings in paintings were often stylized, giving rise to a variety of decorative figural designs.

Both religious and secular art objects often exhibit the same references, styles and forms. These include calligraphy, architecture, textiles and furnishings, such as carpets and woodwork. Secular arts and crafts include the production of textiles, such as clothing, carpets or tents, as well as household objects, made from metal, wood or other materials. Further, figurative miniature paintings have a rich tradition, especially in Persian, Mughal and Ottoman painting. These pictures were often meant to illustrate well-known historical or poetic stories. Some interpretations of Islam, however, include a ban of depiction of animate beings, also known as aniconism. Islamic aniconism stems in part from the prohibition of idolatry and in part from the belief that creation of living forms is God's prerogative.

Terminology
Although the concept of "Islamic art" has been put into question by some modern art historians as a construct of Western cultural views,  the similarities between art produced at widely different times and places in the Muslim world, especially in the Islamic Golden Age, have been sufficient to keep the term in wide use as a useful classification since the late 19th century. Scholars such as Jacelyn K. Kerner have drawn attention to its wide-ranging scope referring to more than 40 nations and to the growing public interest both in Western as well as, more recently, in Muslim societies. Further, the List of Islamic museums bears witness to this art historical term having found wide acceptance.

The Encyclopædia Britannica defines "Islamic arts" as including visual arts, literature, performing arts and music that "virtually defies any comprehensive definition". In a strict sense, the term might only refer to artistic manifestations that are closely related to religious practice. Most often, however, it is meant to include "all of the arts produced by Muslim peoples, whether connected with their religion or not."

Calligraphy

Calligraphic design is omnipresent in Islamic art, where, as in Europe in the Middle Ages, religious exhortations, including Qur'anic verses, may be included in secular objects, especially coins, tiles and metalwork, and most painted miniatures include some script, as do many buildings. Use of Islamic calligraphy in architecture extended significantly outside of Islamic territories; one notable example is the use of Chinese calligraphy of Arabic verses from the Qur'an in the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or donation. Two of the main scripts involved are the symbolic kufic and naskh scripts, which can be found adorning and enhancing the visual appeal of the walls and domes of buildings, the sides of minbars, and metalwork. Islamic calligraphy in the form of painting or sculptures is sometimes referred to as Quranic art.

The various forms of traditional Arabic calligraphy and decoration of the manuscripts used for written versions of the Qur'an represent a central tradition of Islamic visual art. The arabesque is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of God. Mistakes in repetitions may be intentionally introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce perfection, although this theory has also been disputed.

East Persian pottery from the 9th to 11th centuries, decorated only with highly stylised inscriptions and called "epigraphic ware", has been described as "probably the most refined and sensitive of all Persian pottery". Large inscriptions made from tiles, sometimes with the letters raised in relief, or the background cut away, are found on the interiors and exteriors of many important buildings. Complex carved calligraphy also decorates buildings. For most of the Islamic period the majority of coins only showed lettering, which are often very elegant despite their small size and nature of production. The tughra or monogram of an Ottoman sultan was used extensively on official documents, with very elaborate decoration for important ones. Other single sheets of calligraphy, designed for albums, might contain short poems, Qur'anic verses, or other texts.

The main languages, all using Arabic script, are Arabic, always used for Qur'anic verses, Persian in the Persianate world, especially for poetry, and Turkish, with Urdu appearing in later centuries. Calligraphers usually had a higher status than other artists.

Painting

For a long time, Islam was considered aniconic. Existing pictures among the Muslim royalty have been described as an "abberation" by Sir Thomas Arnold and ascribed to only a later Persinate and Turkic cultural period. However, figurative arts existed since the formative stage of Islam. Such arts have been boasted by Arabic speaking caliphats of Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova, inspired by Sasanid and Byzantine models. Figurative arts enjoyed prestige among both orthodox Sunni circles as well as Shia Muslims. The disappearance of royal-sponsored figurative arts in Arabic-speaking lands at a later period is best explained by the overthrow of their ruling dynasties and reduction of most their territories to Ottoman provincial dependencies, not by religious prohibition. Another drawback for Arnold's argument against the religious value of figurative arts in Islamic culture is, that a sizable number of rulers ordering figurative arts in the 14th-17th century, were religious zealots proclaiming to spread and enforce the laws of the sharia.

Although surviving early examples are now uncommon, human figurative art was a continuous tradition in Islamic lands, notably several of the Umayyad Desert Castles (c. 660–750), and during the Abbasid Caliphate (c. 749–1258). Prior to the early 14th century, a halo was a common symbol to designate rulers, before, under Asian influence, the halo as a symbol of sacredness was replaced by a flame. Reminiscent of the Islamic prophet Solomon, rulers were often depicted as sitting on a throne endowed with religious symbols. An ivory casket carved in early eleventh century Cordova shows a Spanish Muslim ruler holding a cup seated upon a lion throne, similar to that of Solomon. A late 12th–13th century bowl depicts an enthroned Seljuk ruler with messengers to either side and headed winged jinn. Other usage of early figurative arts are illustrations of animal fables. Many of them are of Sanskrit origin and translated into Middle Persian in the sixth century for delight, ethical discussion, and political edification. In the 8th century, they were translated into Arabic.

Although there has been a tradition of wall-paintings, especially in the Persianate world, the best-surviving and highest developed form of painting in the Islamic world is the miniature in illuminated manuscripts, or later as a single page for inclusion in a muraqqa or bound album of miniatures and calligraphy. The tradition of the Persian miniature has been dominant since about the 13th century, strongly influencing the Ottoman miniature of Turkey and the Mughal miniature in India. The term "Persian miniature" refers whereby to the language used to decorate the images, and should not obscure its ties to Arabic imagery.

Siyah Qalam (Black Pen), frequently depicts anecdotes charged with Islamic imagery about the animal souls (nafs) and the "ruling soul" (rūḥ). Most human characters are clothed like dervishes and bearded like ascetics in Islamic tradition. Animals often feature as symbol of the lower and untaimed self. The abstract forces to tame the physical body are depicted in the forms of demons (dīv) and angels.

Chinese influences included the early adoption of the vertical format natural to a book, which led to the development of a birds-eye view where a very carefully depicted background of hilly landscape or palace buildings rises up to leave only a small area of sky. The figures are arranged in different planes on the background, with recession (distance from the viewer) indicated by placing more distant figures higher up in the space, but at essentially the same size. The colours, which are often very well preserved, are strongly contrasting, bright and clear. The tradition reached a climax in the 16th and early 17th centuries, but continued until the early 19th century, and has been revived in the 20th.

Since the mid-20th century following the departure of the Dutch colonialists, several Indonesian painters combined Abstract Expressionism with geometric forms, Indonesian symbols and Islamic calligraphy, creating religiously influenced Abstract Art. The spiritual centre of this movement is the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), with leading teachers such as A.D. Pirous, Ahmad Sadali, Mochtar Apin and Umi Dachlan as their main representatives.

In the 21th century, iconophobic followers of various Islamist groups, such as the Taliban, aim to destroy forms of Islamic figurative depictions. Motivated by Saudi mentors (Wahhabism), the Taliban launched an attack on arts in March 2001 in Afghanistan. The religious justification derives from a hadith mentioned by Sahih Bukhari. Others see the rejection of iconography as rooting in a strict aversion to depiction of God throughout Islamic tradition.

Rugs and carpets

No Islamic artistic product has become better known outside the Islamic world than the pile carpet, more commonly referred to as the Oriental carpet (oriental rug). Their versatility is utilized in everyday Islamic and Muslim life, from floor coverings to architectural enrichment, from cushions to bolsters to bags and sacks of all shapes and sizes, and to religious objects (such as a prayer rug, which would provide a clean place to pray). They have been a major export to other areas since the late Middle Ages, used to cover not only floors but tables, for long a widespread European practice that is now common only in the Netherlands. Carpet weaving is a rich and deeply embedded tradition in Islamic societies, and the practice is seen in large city factories as well as in rural communities and nomadic encampments. In earlier periods, special establishments and workshops were in existence that functioned directly under court patronage.

Very early Islamic carpets, i.e. those before the 16th century, are extremely rare. More have survived in the West and oriental carpets in Renaissance painting from Europe are a major source of information on them, as they were valuable imports that were painted accurately. The most natural and easy designs for a carpet weaver to produce consist of straight lines and edges, and the earliest Islamic carpets to survive or be shown in paintings have geometric designs, or centre on very stylized animals, made up in this way. Since the flowing loops and curves of the arabesque are central to Islamic art, the interaction and tension between these two styles was long a major feature of carpet design.

There are a few survivals of the grand Egyptian 16th century carpets, including one almost as good as new discovered in the attic of the Pitti Palace in Florence, whose complex patterns of octagon roundels and stars, in just a few colours, shimmer before the viewer. Production of this style of carpet began under the Mamluks but continued after the Ottomans conquered Egypt. The other sophisticated tradition was the Persian carpet which reached its peak in the 16th and early 17th century in works like the Ardabil Carpet and Coronation Carpet; during this century the Ottoman and Mughal courts also began to sponsor the making in their domains of large formal carpets, evidently with the involvement of designers used to the latest court style in the general Persian tradition. These use a design style shared with non-figurative Islamic illumination and other media, often with a large central gul motif, and always with wide and strongly demarcated borders. The grand designs of the workshops patronized by the court spread out to smaller carpets for the merely wealthy and for export, and designs close to those of the 16th and 17th centuries are still produced in large numbers today. The description of older carpets has tended to use the names of carpet-making centres as labels, but often derived from the design rather than any actual evidence that they originated from around that centre. Research has clarified that designs were by no means always restricted to the centre they are traditionally associated with, and the origin of many carpets remains unclear.

As well as the major Persian, Turkish and Arab centres, carpets were also made across Central Asia, in India, and in Spain and the Balkans. Spanish carpets, which sometimes interrupted typical Islamic patterns to include coats of arms, enjoyed high prestige in Europe, being commissioned by royalty and for the Papal Palace, Avignon, and the industry continued after the Reconquista. Armenian carpet-weaving is mentioned by many early sources, and may account for a much larger proportion of East Turkish and Caucasian production than traditionally thought. The Berber carpets of North Africa have a distinct design tradition. Apart from the products of city workshops, in touch with trading networks that might carry the carpets to markets far away, there was also a large and widespread village and nomadic industry producing work that stayed closer to traditional local designs. As well as pile carpets, kelims and other types of flat-weave or embroidered textiles were produced, for use on both floors and walls. Figurative designs, sometimes with large human figures, are very popular in Islamic countries but relatively rarely exported to the West, where abstract designs are generally what the market expects.

Ceramics

Islamic art has very notable achievements in ceramics, both in pottery and tiles for walls, which in the absence of wall-paintings were taken to heights unmatched by other cultures. Early pottery is often unglazed, but tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new technologies developed by the Islamic potters. The first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another significant contribution was the development of stonepaste ceramics, originating from 9th century Iraq. The first industrial complex for glass and pottery production was built in Raqqa, Syria, in the 8th century. Other centers for innovative pottery in the Islamic world included Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from 1100 to around 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550). Lusterwares with iridescent colours may have continued pre-Islamic Roman and Byzantine techniques, but were either invented or considerably developed on pottery and glass in Persia and Syria from the 9th century onwards.

Islamic pottery was often influenced by Chinese ceramics, whose achievements were greatly admired and emulated. This was especially the case in the periods after the Mongol invasions and those of the Timurids. Techniques, shapes and decorative motifs were all affected. Until the Early Modern period Western ceramics had very little influence, but Islamic pottery was very sought after in Europe, and often copied. An example of this is the albarello, a type of maiolica earthenware jar originally designed to hold apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs. The development of this type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Islamic Middle East. Hispano-Moresque examples were exported to Italy, stimulating the earliest Italian examples, from 15th century Florence.

The Hispano-Moresque style emerged in Al-Andaluz or Muslim Spain in the 8th century, under Egyptian influence, but most of the best production was much later, by potters presumed to have been largely Muslim but working in areas reconquered by the Christian kingdoms. It mixed Islamic and European elements in its designs, and much was exported across neighbouring European countries. It had introduced two ceramic techniques to Europe: glazing with an opaque white tin-glaze, and painting in metallic lusters. Ottoman İznik pottery produced most of the best work in the 16th century, in tiles and large vessels boldly decorated with floral motifs influenced, once again, by Chinese Yuan and Ming ceramics. These were still in earthenware; there was no porcelain made in Islamic countries until modern times, though Chinese porcelain was imported and admired.

The medieval Islamic world also had pottery with painted animal and human imagery. Examples are found throughout the medieval Islamic world, particularly in Persia and Egypt.

Tiling
The earliest grand Islamic buildings, like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, had interior walls decorated with mosaics in the Byzantine style, but without human figures. From the 9th century onwards the distinctive Islamic tradition of glazed and brightly coloured tiling for interior and exterior walls and domes developed. Some earlier schemes create designs using mixtures of tiles each of a single colour that are either cut to shape or are small and of a few shapes, used to create abstract geometric patterns. Later large painted schemes use tiles painted before firing with a part of the scheme – a technique requiring confidence in the consistent results of firing.

Some elements, especially the letters of inscriptions, may be moulded in three-dimensional relief, and in especially in Persia certain tiles in a design may have figurative painting of animals or single human figures. These were often part of designs mostly made up of tiles in plain colours, but with larger fully painted tiles at intervals. The larger tiles are often shaped as eight-pointed stars, and may show animals or a human head or bust, or plant or other motifs. The geometric patterns, such as modern North African zellij work, made of small tiles each of a single colour but different and regular shapes, are often referred to as "mosaic", which is not strictly correct.

The Mughals made much less use of tiling, preferring (and being able to afford) "parchin kari", a type of pietra dura decoration from inlaid panels of semi-precious stones, with jewels in some cases. This can be seen at the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and other imperial commissions. The motifs are usually floral, in a simpler and more realistic style than Persian or Turkish work, relating to plants in Mughal miniatures.

Glass

For most of the Middle Ages Islamic glass was the most sophisticated in Eurasia, exported to both Europe and China. Islam took over much of the traditional glass-producing territory of Sassanian and Ancient Roman glass, and since figurative decoration played a small part in pre-Islamic glass, the change in style is not abrupt, except that the whole area initially formed a political whole, and, for example, Persian innovations were now almost immediately taken up in Egypt. For this reason, it is often impossible to distinguish between the various centres of production, of which Egypt, Syria and Persia were the most important, except by scientific analysis of the material, which itself has difficulties. From various documentary references glassmaking and glass trading seems to have been a speciality of the Jewish minority in several centres.

Between the 8th and early 11th centuries the emphasis in luxury glass was on effects achieved by "manipulating the surface" of the glass, initially by incising into the glass on a wheel and later by cutting away the background to leave a design in relief. The very massive Hedwig glasses, only found in Europe but normally considered Islamic (or possibly from Muslim craftsmen in Norman Sicily), are an example of this, though puzzlingly late in date. These and other glass pieces probably represented cheaper versions of vessels of carved rock crystal (clear quartz), themselves influenced by earlier glass vessels. and there is some evidence that at this period glass cutting and hardstone carving were regarded as the same craft. From the 12th century the industry in Persia and Mesopotamia appears to decline, and the main production of luxury glass shifts to Egypt and Syria, and decorative effects of colour on smooth surfaced glass. Throughout the period local centres made simpler wares such as Hebron glass in Palestine.

Lustre painting, by techniques similar to lustreware in pottery, dates back to the 8th century in Egypt and became widespread in the 12th century. Another technique was decoration with threads of glass of a different colour, worked into the main surface, and sometimes manipulated by combing and other effects. Gilded, painted, and enameled glass were added to the repertoire, and shapes and motifs borrowed from other media, such as pottery and metalwork. Some of the finest work was in mosaic lamps donated by a ruler or wealthy man. As decoration grew more elaborate, the quality of the basic glass decreased, and it "often has a brownish-yellow tinge and is rarely free from bubbles.". Aleppo seems to have ceased to be a major centre after the Mongol invasion of 1260, and Timur appears to have ended the Syrian industry about 1400 by carrying off the skilled workers to Samarkand. By about 1500 the Venetians were receiving large orders for mosque lamps.

Metalwork

Medieval Islamic metalwork offers a complete contrast to its European equivalent, which is dominated by modelled figures and brightly coloured decoration in enamel, some pieces entirely in precious metals. In contrast surviving Islamic metalwork consists of practical objects mostly in brass, bronze, and steel, with simple, but often monumental shapes, and surfaces highly decorated with dense decoration in a variety of techniques, but colour mostly restricted to inlays of gold, silver, copper or black niello. The most abundant survivals from medieval periods are fine brass objects, handsome enough to preserve, but not valuable enough to be melted down. The abundant local sources of zinc, compared to tin, explains the rarity of bronze. Household items, such as ewers or water pitchers, were made of one or more pieces of sheet brass, soldered together and subsequently worked and inlaid.

The use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, as was the wearing of gold rings. Islamic metalworkers shared with their European counterparts a relatively high social status, compared to other artists and craftsmen, and many larger pieces are signed.

Islamic metalwork includes some three-dimensional animal figures, such as fountainheads or aquamaniles, but only one significant enamelled object of Byzantine cloisonné technique is known. The Pisa Griffin is the largest surviving bronze animal, probably from 11th century Al-Andalus. More common objects with elaborate decoration include massive low candlesticks and lamp-stands, lantern lights, bowls, dishes, basins, buckets (these probably for the bath), and ewers, as well as caskets, pen-cases and plaques. Ewers and basins were brought for hand-washing before and after each meal, and so are often lavishly treated display pieces. A typical 13th century ewer from Khorasan is decorated with foliage, animals and the Signs of the Zodiac in silver and copper, and carries a blessing. Specialized objects include knives, arms and armour (always of high interest to the elite) and scientific instruments such as astrolabes, as well as jewellery. Decoration is typically densely packed and very often includes arabesques and calligraphy, sometimes naming an owner and giving a date.

Other applied arts
High levels of achievement were reached in other materials, including hardstone carvings and jewellery, ivory carving, textiles and leatherwork. During the Middle Ages, Islamic work in these fields was highly valued in other parts of the world and often traded outside the Islamic zone. Apart from miniature painting and calligraphy, other arts of the book are decorative illumination, the only type found in Qur'an manuscripts, and Islamic book covers, which are often highly decorative in luxury manuscripts, using either the geometric motifs found in illumination, or sometimes figurative images probably drawn for the craftsmen by miniature painters. Materials include coloured, tooled and stamped leather and lacquer over paint.

Precious stones
Egyptian carving of rock crystal into vessels appears in the late 10th century, and virtually disappears after about 1040 C.E. There are a number of these vessels in the West, which apparently came on the market after the Cairo palace of the Fatimid Caliph was looted by his mercenaries in 1062, and were snapped up by European buyers, mostly ending up in church treasuries. From later periods, especially the hugely wealthy Ottoman and Mughal courts, there are a considerable number of lavish objects carved in semi-precious stones, with little surface decoration, but inset with jewels. Such objects may have been made in earlier periods, but few have survived.

House and furniture
Older wood carving is typically relief or pierced work on flat objects for architectural use, such as screens, doors, roofs, beams and friezes. An important exception are the complex muqarnas and mocárabe designs giving roofs and other architectural elements a stalactite-like appearance. These are often in wood, sometimes painted on the wood, but often plastered over before painting; the examples at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain are among the best known. Traditional Islamic furniture, except for chests, tended to be covered with cushions, with cupboards rather than cabinets for storage, but there are some pieces, including a low round (strictly twelve-sided) table of about 1560 from the Ottoman court, with marquetry inlays in light wood, and a single huge ceramic tile or plaque on the tabletop. The fine inlays typical of Ottoman court furniture may have developed from styles and techniques used in weapons and musical instruments, for which the finest craftsmanship available was used. There are also intricately decorated caskets and chests from various periods. A spectacular and famous (and far from flat) roof was one of the Islamic components of the 12th century Norman Cappella Palatina in Palermo, which picked from the finest elements of Catholic, Byzantine and Islamic art. Other famous wooden roofs are in the Alhambra in Granada.

Ivory
Ivory carving centred on the Mediterranean, spreading from Egypt, where a thriving Coptic industry had been inherited; Persian ivory is rare. The normal style was a deep relief with an even surface; some pieces were painted. Spain specialized in caskets and round boxes, which were probably used to keep jewels and perfumes. They were produced mainly in the approximate period of 930–1050, and widely exported. Many pieces are signed and dated, and on court pieces the name of the owner is often inscribed; they were typically gifts from a ruler. As well as a court workshop, Cordoba had commercial workshops producing goods of slightly lower quality. In the 12th and 13th century workshops in Norman Sicily produced caskets, apparently then migrating to Granada and elsewhere after persecution. Egyptian work tended to be in flat panels and friezes, for insertion into woodwork and probably furniture – most are now detached from their settings. Many were calligraphic, and others continued Byzantine traditions of hunting scenes, with backgrounds of arabesques and foliage in both cases.

Silk
Despite Hadith sayings prohibiting the wearing of silk, the Byzantine and Sassanian traditions of grand figured silk woven cloth continued under Muslim rule. Some designs are calligraphic, especially when made for palls to cover a tomb, but more are surprisingly conservative versions of the earlier traditions, with many large figures of animals, especially majestic symbols of power like the lion and eagle. These are often enclosed in roundels, as found in the pre-Islamic traditions. The majority of early silks have been recovered from tombs, and in Europe reliquaries, where the relics were often wrapped in silk. European clergy and nobility were keen buyers of Islamic silk from an early date and, for example, the body of an early bishop of Toul in France was wrapped in a silk from the Bukhara area in modern Uzbekistan, probably when the body was reburied in 820. The Shroud of St Josse is a famous samite cloth from East Persia, which originally had a carpet-like design with two pairs of confronted elephants, surrounded by borders including rows of camels and an inscription in Kufic script, from which the date appears to be before 961. Other silks were used for clothes, hangings, altarcloths, and church vestments, which have nearly all been lost, except for some vestments.

Ottoman silks were less exported, and the many surviving royal kaftans have simpler geometric patterns, many featuring stylized "tiger-stripes" below three balls or circles. Other silks have foliage designs comparable to those on Iznik pottery or carpets, with bands forming ogival compartments a popular motif. Some designs begin to show Italian influence. By the 16th century Persian silk was using smaller patterns, many of which showed relaxed garden scenes of beautiful boys and girls from the same world as those in contemporary album miniatures, and sometimes identifiable scenes from Persian poetry. A 16th-century circular ceiling for a tent, 97 cm across, shows a continuous and crowded hunting scene; it was apparently looted by the army of Suleiman the Magnificent in his invasion of Persia in 1543–45, before being taken by a Polish general at the Siege of Vienna in 1683. Mughal silks incorporate many Indian elements, and often feature relatively realistic "portraits" of plants, as found in other media.

Indonesian batik
The development and refinement of Indonesian batik cloth was closely linked to Islam. The Islamic prohibition on certain images encouraged batik design to become more abstract and intricate. Realistic depictions of animals and humans are rare on traditional batik. However, mythical serpents, humans with exaggerated features and the Garuda of pre-Islamic mythology are common motifs.

Although its existence pre-dates Islam, batik reached its zenith in royal Muslim courts such as Mataram and Yogyakarta, whose sultans encouraged and patronised batik production. Today, batik is undergoing a revival, and cloths are used for additional purposes such as wrapping the Quran.

Architecture
Unlike some mediums in Islamic art, Islamic architecture was consistently prominent across the Islamic world. In general, patrons invested more resources into building monuments than they did in the production of art objects and our knowledge of Islamic architecture is more complete thanks to the many buildings that have survived across regions and periods. Early Islamic architecture drew on existing regional traditions of architecture in late antiquity and later developed into various regional traditions. Innovations from one region often spread to others.

Applied decoration played a particularly important role in Islamic architecture, and this decoration made use of the same motifs predominant in other forms of Islamic art: arabesques, epigraphy, geometric patterns, and other vegetal forms. Methods of decoration included carving, inlay, and painting in materials such as brick, stone, tile, plaster, and wood.

Pre-dynastic
The period of a rapid expansion of the Islamic era forms a reasonably accurate beginning for the label of Islamic art. Early geographical boundaries of the Islamic culture were in present-day Syria. It is quite difficult to distinguish the earliest Islamic objects from their predecessors in Persian or Sasanian and Byzantine art, and the conversion of the mass of the population, including artists, took a significant period, sometimes centuries, after the initial spread of Islam. There was, notably, a significant production of unglazed ceramics, witnessed by a famous small bowl preserved in the Louvre, whose inscription assures its attribution to the Islamic period. Plant motifs were the most important in these early productions.

Influences from the Sassanian artistic tradition include the image of the king as a warrior and the lion as a symbol of nobility and virility. Bedouin tribal traditions mixed with the more sophisticated styles of the conquered territories. For an initial period coins had human figures in the Byzantine and Sassanian style, perhaps to reassure users of their continued value, before the Islamic style with lettering only took over.

Umayyad
Religious and civic architecture were developed under the Umayyad Caliphates (661–750), when new concepts and new plans were put into practice.

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in all of Islamic architecture, marked by a strong Byzantine influence (mosaic against a gold ground, and a central plan that recalls that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), but already bearing purely Islamic elements, such as the great epigraphic frieze. The desert palaces in Jordan and Syria (for example, Mshatta, Qusayr 'Amra, and Hisham's Palace) served the caliphs as living quarters, reception halls, and baths, and were decorated, including some wall-paintings, to promote an image of royal luxury.

Work in ceramics was still somewhat primitive and unglazed during this period. Some metal objects have survived from this time, but it remains rather difficult to distinguish these objects from those of the pre-Islamic period.

'Abd al-Malik introduced standard coinage that featured Arabic inscriptions, instead of images of the monarch. The quick development of a localized coinage around the time of the Dome of the Rock's construction demonstrates the reorientation of Umayyad acculturation. This period saw the genesis of a particularly Islamic art.

In this period, Umayyad artists and artisans did not invent a new vocabulary, but began to prefer those received from Mediterranean and Iranian late antiquity, which they adapted to their own artistic conceptions. For example, the mosaics in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus are based on Byzantine models but replace the figurative elements with images of trees and cities. The desert palaces also bear witness to these influences. By combining the various traditions that they had inherited, and by readapting motifs and architectural elements, artists created little by little a typically Muslim art, particularly discernible in the aesthetic of the arabesque, which appears both on monuments and in illuminated Qurans.

Some Umayyads commissioned erotic art for private settings. The Umayyad caliph Al-Walid II built the Qusayr Amra, as his country retreat, whose decoration includes naked females and love scenes.

Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 ) witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, and then from Baghdad to Samarra. The shift to Baghdad influenced politics, culture, and art. Art historian Robert Hillenbrand (1999) likens the movement to the foundation of an "Islamic Rome", because the meeting of Eastern influences from Iranian, Eurasian steppe, Chinese, and Indian sources created a new paradigm for Islamic art. Classical forms inherited from Byzantine Europe and Greco-Roman sources were discarded in favor of those drawn from the new Islamic hub. Even the design of the city of Baghdad placed it in the "navel of the world", as 9th-century historian al-Ya'qubi wrote.

The ancient city of Baghdad cannot be excavated well, as it lies beneath the modern city. However, Abbasid Samarra, which was largely abandoned, has been well studied, and is known for its surviving examples of stucco reliefs, in which the prehistory of the arabesque can be traced. Motifs known from the stucco at Samarra permit the dating of structures built elsewhere, and are furthermore found on portable objects, particular in wood, from Egypt through to Iran.

Samarra witnessed the "coming of age" of Islamic art. Polychrome painted stucco allowed for experimentation in new styles of moulding and carving. The Abbasid period also coincided with two major innovations in the ceramic arts: the invention of faience, and of metallic lusterware. Hadithic prohibition of the use of golden or silver vessels led to the development of metallic lusterware in pottery, which was made by mixing sulphur and metallic oxides to ochre and vinegar, painted onto an already glazed vessel and then fired a second time. It was expensive, and difficult to manage the second round through the kiln, but the wish to exceed fine Chinese porcelain led to the development of this technique.

Though the common perception of Abbasid artistic production focuses largely on pottery, the greatest development of the Abbasid period was in textiles. Government-run workshops known as tiraz produced silks bearing the name of the monarch, allowing for aristocrats to demonstrate their loyalty to the ruler. Other silks were pictorial. The utility of silk-ware in wall decor, entrance adornment, and room separation was not as important as its cash value along the Silk Road.

Islamic calligraphy began to be used in surface decoration on pottery during this period. Illuminated qur'ans gained attention, letter-forms now more complex and stylized to the point of slowing down the recognition of the words themselves.

Medieval period (9th–15th centuries)
Beginning in the ninth century, Abbasid sovereignty was contested in the provinces furthest removed from the Iraqi center. The creation of an Ismaʻili Shiʻi dynasty, that of the North African Fatimid Caliphate, followed by the Caliphate of Córdoba in the Iberian Peninsula, gave force to this opposition, as well as small dynasties and autonomous governors in Iran.

Spain and the Maghreb

The first Islamic dynasty to establish itself in Iberia, known in Arabic as al-Andalus, was the Umayyads, descended from the great Umayyad Caliphate of Syria. After their fall, they were replaced by various autonomous kingdoms, the taifas (1031–91), but the artistic production from this period does not differ significantly from that of the Umayyads. At the end of the 11th century, two Berber tribes, the Almoravids and the Almohads, captured the head of the Maghreb and Spain, successively, bringing Maghrebi influences into art. A series of military victories by Christian monarchs had reduced Islamic Spain by the end of the 14th century to the city of Granada, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty, who managed to maintain their hold until 1492.

Al-Andalus was a great cultural center of the Middle Ages. Besides the great universities, which taught philosophies and sciences yet unknown in Christendom (such as those of Averroes), the territory was an equally vital center for art.

Many techniques were employed in the manufacture of objects. Ivory was used extensively for the manufacture of boxes and caskets. The pyxis of al-Mughira is a masterwork of the genre. In metalwork, large sculptures in the round, normally rather scarce in the Islamic world, served as elaborate receptacles for water or as fountain spouts. A great number of textiles, most notably silks, were exported: many are found in the church treasuries of Christendom, where they served as covering for saints' reliquaries. From the periods of Maghrebi rule one may also note a taste for painted and sculpted woodwork.

The art of north Africa is not as well studied. The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are characterized by a tendency toward austerity, for example in mosques with bare walls. Nevertheless, luxury arts continued to be produced in great quantity. The Marinid and Hafsid dynasties developed an important, but poorly understood, architecture, and a significant amount of painted and sculpted woodwork.

Arab Mashriq
The Fatimid Caliphate, which reigned in Egypt from 909 and 1171, introduced crafts and knowledge from politically troubled Baghdad to their capital of Cairo.

By 1070, the Seljuq Empire emerged as the dominant political force in the Muslim world after they liberated Baghdad and defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert. During the rule of Malik-Shah I, the Seljuks excelled in architecture at the same time in Syria, the atabegs (governors of Seljuk princes) assumed power. Quite independent, they capitalized on conflicts with the Frankish crusaders. In 1171, Saladin seized Fatimid Egypt, and installed the transitory Ayyubid dynasty on the throne. This period is notable for innovations in metallurgy and the widespread manufacture of the Damascus steel swords and daggers and the production ceramics, glass and metalwork of a high quality were produced without interruption, and enamelled glass became another important craft.

In 1250, Mamluks seized control of Egypt from the Ayyubids as the Mamluk Sultanate, and by 1261 had managed to assert themselves in Syria as well their most famous ruler was Baibars. The Mamluks were not, strictly speaking, a dynasty, as they did not maintain a patrilineal mode of succession; in fact, Mamluks were freed Turkish and Caucasian slaves, who (in theory) passed the power to others of like station. This mode of government persevered for three centuries, until 1517, and gave rise to abundant architectural projects; many thousands of buildings were constructed during this period. Patronage of luxury arts favored primarily enamelled glass and metalwork and is remembered as the golden age of medieval Egypt. The Baptistère de Saint Louis in the Louvre is an example of the very high quality of metalwork at this period.

Iran and Central Asia

Iran and the north of India, the Tahirids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids struggled for power in the 10th century, and art was a vital element of this competition. Great cities were built, such as Nishapur and Ghazni, and the construction of the Great Mosque of Isfahan (which would continue, in fits and starts, over several centuries) was initiated. Funerary architecture was also cultivated, while potters developed quite individual styles: kaleidoscopic ornament on a yellow ground; or marbled decorations created by allowing colored glazes to run; or painting with multiple layers of slip under the glaze.

The Seljuqs, nomads of Turkic origin from present-day Mongolia, appeared on the stage of Islamic history toward the end of the 10th century. They seized Baghdad in 1048, before dying out in 1194 in Iran, although the production of "Seljuq" works continued through the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century under the auspices of smaller, independent sovereigns and patrons. During their time, the center of culture, politics and art production shifted from Damascus and Baghdad to Merv, Nishapur, Rayy, and Isfahan, all in Iran. Popular patronage expanded because of a growing economy and new urban wealth. Inscriptions in architecture tended to focus more on the patrons of the piece. For example, sultans, viziers or lower ranking officials would receive often mention in inscriptions on mosques. Meanwhile, growth in mass market production and sale of art made it more commonplace and accessible to merchants and professionals. Because of increased production, many relics have survived from the Seljuk era and can be easily dated. In contrast, the dating of earlier works is more ambiguous. It is, therefore, easy to mistake Seljuk art as new developments rather than inheritance from classical Iranian and Turkic sources.

Innovations in ceramics from this period include the production of minai ware and the manufacture of vessels, not out of clay, but out of a silicon paste ("fritware"), while metalworkers began to encrust bronze with precious metals. Across the Seljuk era, from Iran to Iraq, a unification of book painting can be seen. These paintings have animalistic figures that convey strong symbolic meaning of fidelity, treachery, and courage.

During the 13th century, the Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan swept through the Islamic world. After his death, his empire was divided among his sons, forming many dynasties: the Yuan in China, the Ilkhanids in Iran and the Golden Horde in northern Iran and southern Russia.

Ilkhanids
A rich civilization developed under these "little khans", who were originally subservient to the Yuan emperor, but rapidly became independent. Architectural activity intensified as the Mongols became sedentary, and retained traces of their nomadic origins, such as the north–south orientation of the buildings. At the same time a process of "iranisation" took place, and construction according to previously established types, such as the "Iranian plan" mosques, was resumed. The art of the Persian book was also born under this dynasty, and was encouraged by aristocratic patronage of large manuscripts such as the Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. New techniques in ceramics appeared, such as the lajvardina (a variation on luster-ware), and Chinese influence is perceptible in all arts.

The Golden Horde and the Timurids
The early arts of the nomads of the Golden Horde are poorly understood. Research is only beginning, and evidence for town planning and architecture has been discovered. There was also a significant production of works in gold, which often show a strong Chinese influence. Much of this work is preserved today in the Hermitage.

The beginning of the third great period of medieval Iranian art, that of the Timurids, was marked by the invasion of a third group of nomads, under the direction of Timur. During the 15th century this dynasty gave rise to a golden age in Persian manuscript painting, including renowned painters such as Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, but also a multitude of workshops and patrons.

Syria, Iraq, Anatolia
The Seljuq Turks pushed beyond Iran into Anatolia, winning a victory over the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Manzikert (1071), and setting up a sultanate independent of the Iranian branch of the dynasty. Their power seems largely to have waned following the Mongol invasions in 1243, but coins were struck under their name until 1304. Architecture and objects synthesized various styles, both Iranian and Syrian, sometimes rendering precise attributions difficult. The art of woodworking was cultivated, and at least one illustrated manuscript dates to this period.

Caravanserais dotted the major trade routes across the region, placed at intervals of a day's travel. The construction of these caravanserai inns improved in scale, fortification, and replicability. Also, they began to contain central mosques.

The Turkmen were nomads who settled in the area of Lake Van. They were responsible for a number of mosques, such as the Blue Mosque in Tabriz, and they had a decisive influence after the fall of the Anatolian Seljuqs. Starting in the 13th century, Anatolia was dominated by small Turkmen dynasties, which progressively chipped away at Byzantine territory. Little by little a major dynasty emerged, that of the Ottomans, who, after 1450, are referred to as the "first Ottomans". Turkmen artworks can be seen as the forerunners of Ottoman art, in particular the "Milet" ceramics and the first blue-and-white Anatolian works.

Islamic book painting witnessed its first golden age in the thirteenth century, mostly from Syria and Iraq. Influence from Byzantine visual vocabulary (blue and gold coloring, angelic and victorious motifs, symbology of drapery) combined with Mongoloid facial types in 12th-century book frontispieces.

Earlier coinage necessarily featured Arabic epigraphs, but as Ayyubid society became more cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, coinage began to feature astrological, figural (featuring a variety of Greek, Seleucid, Byzantine, Sasanian, and contemporary Turkish rulers' busts), and animal images.

Hillenbrand suggests that the medieval Islamic texts called Maqamat, copied and illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti were some of the earliest "coffee table books". They were among the first texts to hold up a mirror to daily life in Islamic art, portraying humorous stories and showing little to no inheritance of pictorial tradition.

Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, some northern parts of which conquered by the Ghaznavids and Ghurids in the 9th century, did not become autonomous until 1206, when the Muizzi, or slave-kings, seized power, marking the birth of the Delhi Sultanate. Later other competing sultanates were founded in Bengal, Kashmir, Gujarat, Jaunpur, Malwa, and in the north Deccan (the Bahmanids). They separated themselves little by little from Persian traditions, giving birth to an original approach to architecture and urbanism, marked in particular by interaction with Hindu art. Study of the production of objects has hardly begun, but a lively art of manuscript illumination is known. The period of the sultanates ended with the arrival of the Mughals, who progressively seized their territories.

Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire, whose origins lie in the 14th century, continued in existence until shortly after World War I. This impressive longevity, combined with an immense territory (stretching from Anatolia to Tunisia), led naturally to a vital and distinctive art, including plentiful architecture, mass production of ceramics for both tiles and vessels, most notably Iznik ware, important metalwork and jewellery, Turkish paper marbling Ebru, Turkish carpets as well as tapestries and exceptional Ottoman miniatures and decorative Ottoman illumination.

Masterpieces of Ottoman manuscript illustration include the two "books of festivals" (Surname-I Hümayun), one dating from the end of the 16th century, and the other from the era of Sultan Murad III. These books contain numerous illustrations and exhibit a strong Safavid influence; thus they may have been inspired by books captured in the course of the Ottoman-Safavid wars of the 16th century.

The Ottomans are also known for their development of a bright red pigment, "Iznik red", in ceramics, which reached their height in the 16th century, both in tile-work and pottery, using floral motifs that were considerably transformed from their Chinese and Persian models. From the 18th century, Ottoman art came under considerable European influence, the Turks adopting versions of Rococo which had a lasting and not very beneficial effect, leading to over-fussy decoration. European-style painting was slow to be adopted, with Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910) for long a somewhat solitary figure. He was a member of the Ottoman administrative elite who trained in Paris, and painted throughout his long career as a senior administrator and curator in Turkey. Many of his works represent Orientalism from the inside, as it were.

Mughals
The Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1526 until (technically) 1858, although from the late 17th century power flowed away from the emperors to local rulers, and later European powers, above all the British Raj, who were the main power in India by the late 18th century. The period is most notable for luxury arts of the court, and Mughal styles heavily influenced local Hindu and later Sikh rulers as well. The Mughal miniature began by importing Persian artists, especially a group brought back by Humayun when in exile in Safavid Persia, but soon local artists, many Hindu, were trained in the style. Realistic portraiture, and images of animals and plants, was developed in Mughal art beyond what the Persians had so far achieved, and the size of miniatures increased, sometimes onto canvas. The Mughal court had access to European prints and other art, and these had increasing influence, shown in the gradual introduction of aspects of Western graphical perspective, and a wider range of poses in the human figure. Some Western images were directly copied or borrowed from. As the courts of local Nawabs developed, distinct provincial styles with stronger influence from traditional Indian painting developed in both Muslim and Hindu princely courts.

The arts of jewelry and hardstone carving of gemstones, such as jasper, jade, adorned with rubies, diamonds and emeralds are mentioned by the Mughal chronicler Abu'l Fazl, and a range of examples survive; the series of hard stone daggers in the form of horses' heads is particularly impressive.

The Mughals were also fine metallurgists they introduced Damascus steel and refined the locally produced Wootz steel, the Mughals also introduced the "bidri" technique of metalwork in which silver motifs are pressed against a black background. Famous Mughal metallurgists like Ali Kashmiri and Muhammed Salih Thatawi created the seamless celestial globes.

Safavids and Qajars
The Iranian Safavids, a dynasty stretching from 1501 to 1786, is distinguished from the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, and earlier Persian rulers, in part through the Shi'a faith of its shahs, which they succeeded in making the majority denomination in Persia. Ceramic arts are marked by the strong influence of Chinese porcelain, often executed in blue and white. Architecture flourished, attaining a high point with the building program of Shah Abbas in Isfahan, which included numerous gardens, palaces (such as Ali Qapu), an immense bazaar, and a large imperial mosque.

The art of manuscript illumination also achieved new heights, in particular in the Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh, an immense copy of Ferdowsi's poem containing more than 250 paintings. In the 17th century a new type of painting develops, based around the album (muraqqa). The albums were the creations of connoisseurs who bound together single sheets containing paintings, drawings, or calligraphy by various artists, sometimes excised from earlier books, and other times created as independent works. The paintings of Reza Abbasi figure largely in this new art of the book, depicting one or two larger figures, typically idealized beauties in a garden setting, often using the grisaille techniques previously used for border paintings for the background.

After the fall of the Safavids, the Qajars, a Turkmen tribe established from centuries on the banks of the Caspian Sea, assumed power. Qajar art displays an increasing European influence, as in the large oil paintings portraying the Qajar shahs. Steelwork also assumed a new importance. Like the Ottomans, the Qajar dynasty survived until 1925, a few years after the First World War.

Modern period
From the 15th century, the number of smaller Islamic courts began to fall, as the Ottoman Empire, and later the Safavids and European powers, swallowed them up; this had an effect on Islamic art, which was usually strongly led by the patronage of the court. From at least the 18th century onwards, elite Islamic art was increasingly influenced by European styles, and in the applied arts either largely adopted Western styles, or ceased to develop, retaining whatever style was prevalent at some point in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. Many industries with very long histories, such as pottery in Iran, largely closed, while others, like metalwork in brass, became generally frozen in style, with much of their production going to tourists or exported as oriental exotica.

The carpet industry has remained large, but mostly uses designs that originated before 1700, and competes with machine-made imitations both locally and around the world. Arts and crafts with a broader social base, like the zelligj mosaic tiles of the Maghreb, have often survived better. Islamic countries have developed modern and contemporary art, with very vigorous art scenes, but the degree to which these should be grouped in a special category as "Islamic art" is questionable, although many artists deal with Islam-related themes, and use traditional elements such as calligraphy. Further, much modern architecture and interior decoration in the Islamic world makes use of motifs and elements drawn from the heritage of Islamic art.

title: Islamic art


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Christian art

Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media.

Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects, and scenes from the Old Testament play a part in the art of most denominations. Images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism. However, there are some that have promoted aniconism in Christianity, and there have been periods of iconoclasm within Christianity.

Beginnings
Early Christian art survives from dates near the origins of Christianity, although many early Christians associated figurative art with pagan religion, and were suspicious or hostile towards it. Hans Belting wrote that "in late antiquity... Christianity adopted the cult images of the "pagans", in a complete reversal of its original attitude, and developed an image practice of its own." But large free-standing sculpture, the medium for the most prominent pagan images, continued to be distrusted and largely shunned for some centuries, and virtually up to the present day in the Orthodox world. The oldest Christian sculptures are small reliefs from Roman sarcophagi, dating to the beginning of the 2nd century. The largest groups of Early Christian paintings come from the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome, and show the evolution of the depiction of Jesus, a process not complete until the 6th century, since when the conventional appearance of Jesus in art has remained remarkably consistent.

Until the adoption of Christianity by Constantine Christian art derived its style and much of its iconography from popular Roman art, but from this point grand Christian buildings built under imperial patronage brought a need for Christian versions of Roman elite and official art, of which mosaics in churches in Rome are the most prominent surviving examples. Christian art was caught up in, but did not originate, the shift in style from the classical tradition inherited from Ancient Greek art to a less realist and otherworldly hieratic style, the start of gothic art.

Middle Ages
Much of the art surviving from Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire is Christian art, although this is in large part because the continuity of church ownership has preserved church art better than secular works. While the Western Roman Empire's political structure essentially collapsed after the fall of Rome, its religious hierarchy, what is today the modern-day Roman Catholic Church commissioned and funded production of religious art imagery.

The Orthodox Church of Constantinople, which enjoyed greater stability within the surviving Eastern Empire was key in producing imagery there and glorifying Christianity. They commissioned many shrines to be built in Constantinople’s honor and also lots of well-decorated churches. These tended to have extravagant stained glass and paintings covering the walls and ceilings. Also, relief sculptures were made which were etched into the sides of buildings and churches. Hagia Sophia, the world's largest cathedral during the 15th century, was decorated almost entirely using mosaics as a way to honor God. Following the fall of Constantinople, it was converted into a mosque, but it's wonderous art remained. As a stable Western European society emerged during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church led the way in terms of art, using its resources to commission paintings and sculptures.

During the development of Christian art in the Byzantine Empire (see Byzantine art), a more abstract aesthetic replaced the naturalism previously established in Hellenistic art. This new style was hieratic, meaning its primary purpose was to convey religious meaning rather than accurately render objects and people. Realistic perspective, proportions, light and colour were ignored in favour of geometric simplification of forms, reverse perspective and standardized conventions to portray individuals and events. The controversy over the use of graven images, the interpretation of the Second Commandment, and the crisis of Byzantine Iconoclasm led to a standardization of religious imagery within the Eastern Orthodoxy.

Renaissance and early modern period
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought an end to the highest quality Byzantine art, produced in the Imperial workshops there. Orthodox art, known as icons regardless of the medium, has otherwise continued with relatively little change in subject and style up to the present day, with Russia gradually becoming the leading centre of production.

In the West, the Renaissance saw an increase in monumental secular works, although Christian art continued to be commissioned in great quantities by churches, clergy and by the aristocracy. The Reformation had a huge impact on Christian art; Martin Luther in Germany allowed and encouraged the display of a more limited range of religious imagery in churches, seeing the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a continuation of the "ancient, apostolic church". Lutheran altarpieces like the 1565 Last Supper by the younger Cranach were produced in Germany, especially by Luther's friend Lucas Cranach, to replace Catholic ones, often containing portraits of leading reformers as the apostles or other protagonists, but retaining the traditional depiction of Jesus. As such, "Lutheran worship became a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior." Lutherans proudly employed the use of the crucifix as it highlighted their high view of the Theology of the Cross. Thus, for Lutherans, "the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image." On the other hand, Christians from a Reformed background were generally iconoclastic, destroying existing religious imagery and usually only creating more in the form of book illustrations.

Artists were commissioned to produce more secular genres like portraits, landscape paintings and because of the revival of Neoplatonism, subjects from classical mythology. In Catholic countries, production of religious art continued, and increased during the Counter-Reformation, but Catholic art was brought under much tighter control by the church hierarchy than had been the case before. From the 18th century the number of religious works produced by leading artists declined sharply, though important commissions were still placed, and some artists continued to produce large bodies of religious art on their own initiative.

Modern period
As a secular, non-sectarian, universal notion of art arose in 19th-century Western Europe, ancient and Medieval Christian art began to be collected for art appreciation rather than worship, while contemporary Christian art was considered marginal. Occasionally, secular artists treated Christian themes (Bouguereau, Manet) — but only rarely was a Christian artist included in the historical canon (such as Rouault or Stanley Spencer). However many modern artists such as Eric Gill, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Jacob Epstein, Elisabeth Frink and Graham Sutherland have produced well-known works of art for churches. Salvador Dalí is an artist who had also produced notable and popular artworks with Christian themes. Contemporary artists such as Makoto Fujimura have had significant influence both in sacred and secular arts. Other notable artists include Larry D. Alexander and John August Swanson. Some writers, such as Gregory Wolfe, see this as part of a rebirth of Christian humanism.

Popular devotional art
Since the advent of printing, the sale of reproductions of pious works has been a major element of popular Christian culture. In the 19th century, this included genre painters such as Mihály Munkácsy. The invention of color lithography led to broad circulation of holy cards. In the modern era, companies specializing in modern commercial Christian artists such as Thomas Blackshear and Thomas Kinkade, although widely regarded in the fine art world as kitsch, have been very successful.

Subjects

Subjects often seen in Christian art include the following. See Life of Christ and Life of the Virgin for fuller lists of narrative scenes included in cycles:

• Adoration of the Magi

• Adoration of the shepherds

• Angels

• Annunciation

• Arrest of Jesus

• Ascension of Jesus

• Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Art or Dormition of the Virgin

• Baptism of Jesus

• Christ in Majesty

• Christ Pantocrator

• Coronation of the Virgin

• Crucifix

• Descent from the Cross

• Hand of God

• Holy family

• Holy Trinity Icon

• Madonna

• Madonna and Child

• Maestà

• Nativity of Jesus

• Noli me tangere

• Passion of Jesus

• Pietà

• Resurrection appearances of Jesus

• Salvator Mundi

• Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus

• Shield of the Trinity

• Stations of the Cross

• The Last Judgment

• The Last Supper

• Tree of Jesse

Motifs
The Virgin Mary is shown spinning and weaving, appearing in artworks with a loom or knitting needles, weaving cloth over her womb, or knitting for her son. The imagery, much of it German, places the sacred narratives in the domestic realm. She is shown weaving in paintings of The Annunciation, or spinning. Although spinning was less common an example is found in some convents where nuns would spin silk, presumably to create a link between the convent community of women and the image of the Mary.

title: Christian art