Isfahan: Did you mean...?

Muqarnas is a three-dimensional architectural decorative element that flourished in its most complete form mainly during the Islamic period and is most pervasively used in domes and semi-domes. One of the key features of this mesmerizing...

Omar Khayyam (also given as Umar Khayyam, l. 1048-1131 CE) was a Persian polymath, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher but is best known in the West as a poet, the author of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His famous work has been embraced...

Persian Haft Rang tiles, also known as seven-colored tiles, are highly decorative glazed tiles used to adorn the exteriors and interiors of both secular and religious buildings. The tiles first came to prominence from the 15th century and...

Cochineal is a brilliant red dye extracted from the crushed bodies of parasitic insects which prey on cacti in the warmer parts of the Americas. The dye was an important part of trade in ancient Mesoamerica and South America and throughout...

A scene composed of Persian colored tiles showing a picnic in a garden. First-quarter of the 17th century, Isfahan, Iran. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Decorative muqarnas vaulting in the iwan entrance to the Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran.

Persian miniature painting on a tile, earthenware under coloured glazes, probably from Isfahan, 17th century CE. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The so-called 'garden scenes' are among the most typical settings in the Persian literary...

Muqarnas at Chehel Sotoun Palace, Isfahan, Iran.

Tile panel with hunting scene, Iran, 18th - 19th Century. Pink earth, white covered with cuerda seca decoration. Hunting scenes, practiced as a sport and as a princely hobby, benefited from a centuries-old tradition in Iranian art. This set...