Islamic Art: Did you mean...?

Sara Plumbly, Head of Islamic & Indian Art at Christie’s London, discusses the breadth of Islamic calligraphy. For Muslims, the Qur’an constitutes the very word of God. As Sara Plumbly, Head of Islamic & Indian Art at Christie’s London...

The Songhai Empire (aka Songhay, c. 1460 - c. 1591) covered what is today southern Mauritania and Mali. It replaced the Mali Empire (1240-1645) as the most important state in West Africa. Originating as a smaller kingdom along the eastern...

Paleolithic cave art found at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh, central India.

Umar ibn al-Khattab (r. 634-644 CE) was the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE, as the first four caliphs are referred to by the Sunni Muslims). He was an early convert of Islam and one of the close companions of the Islamic...

Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated...

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) was a French post-impressionist artist. Although he struggled for recognition in his own lifetime and often lacked confidence in his work, the artist's unique style, use of light and colour, and his interest in geometric...

The Battle of Karbala (10 October 680 CE) was a small-scaled military engagement, fought near the river Euphrates, in modern-day Iraq, which saw the massacre of heavily outnumbered Alid troops under the command of Husayn ibn Ali (l. 626-680...

A late 15th century CE tempera panel credited to Masaccio and known as 'The Founders of Florentine Art'. The five portraits in the panel are (left to right): Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Donatello, Manetti and Filippo Brunelleschi. (Louvre, Paris...

A bamboo version of 'The Art of War' (composed late 6th century BCE) widely attributed to the Chinese military strategist Sun-Tzu. (University of California, Riverside)

Rock art depicting a horned serpent, at Pony Hills and Cook's Peak, New Mexico. The horned serpent features in several Cherokee tales, where it is known as Uktena. Photograph by E. Kay Luther, 2006.