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Miniatures continued to
flourish especially in the eastern countries of the Islamic world. The
embellishment of manuscripts spread on a large scale, leaving behind an
enormous legacy of illuminated manuscripts, and sometimes miniatures
solely on separate folios.
A group of painters who
excelled in ornamenting books and drawings with miniatures became known as
professional illuminators. They increased in number and varied in skill,
to the extent that one author- according to al-Maqarīziy – wrote a
book on them entitled Daw’ al-Nibrās wa Uns al-Jilās fī
Akhbār al-Muzawīqīn min al-Nās, or “The Lantern
Light and the Gathering Entertainment in the Illuminators’ News.”
When contemplating these
miniatures, the eye is attracted restlessly to the wealth of minute
details, the richness of tonality and the wide variation in each and every
painting. The artistic perspective is equally interesting; the horizontal
vision of the world, as if we are looking through a higher eye or a
sharp-eyed bird with the world spread magically at its sight.
Let
us consider some selected samples. |
