Persian Art and Islamic Art: How They Differ

Museums place Persian painting in their Islamic art departments because Iran was ruled by Muslim dynasties from the seventh century on, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art explains that the art of all the lands ruled for long periods by Muslim dynasties, religious and secular, "has been studied and presented together" and "has traditionally been referred to as Islamic art". Persian art is one regional tradition inside that group, marked by the Persian language and its scripts, the illustrated book, stories from Iran's history before Islam, and figurative painting, and it also reaches back more than 1,100 years before Islam to the Achaemenid and Sasanian empires, which museums show in their ancient departments.

This page sets out what the museums that use the term Islamic art say it covers, what the sources say is specific to Persian art, and where the two meet. It is part of our guide to contemporary Iranian and Persian painting.

Key takeaways

• The Met says Islamic art covers regions "historically ruled and/or inhabited predominantly by Muslims", from Spain to Indonesia, from the seventh century to the present.
• LACMA says the term covers art made in the service of Islam and also secular art made in lands under Islamic rule or influence, "whatever the artist's or the patron's religious affiliation".
• The Met separated its Ancient Near Eastern and Islamic collections into two departments in 1963, so art from Iran is split between them at the Arab conquest.
• The Met's educator guide says Persian is an Indo-European language, like English or French, written in the Arabic alphabet.
• The Smithsonian says nastaliq, the script developed in Iran in the 14th century, was suited to copying Persian verse and was used from Istanbul to Delhi by 1430.
• The Met says the Qur'an contains no prohibition on depicting people or animals, and that in most Islamic regions figures were used in secular settings and kept out of religious ones.

What museums mean by Islamic art

The term comes from the museums and universities that use it, so their own definitions are the place to start. The Met's educator resource, Art of the Islamic World, explains that the art of these regions "has been studied and presented together because Muslim dynasties ruled them for long periods of time and works of art were largely commissioned by Muslim patrons". It adds that some of the artists "were non-Muslims living under Muslim rule", and that Christians, Jews, Hindus, Zoroastrians and Buddhists lived in these regions too. The same guide defines the Islamic world as regions "historically ruled and/or inhabited predominantly by Muslims", from Spain to Indonesia, from the seventh century to the present.

LACMA's online introduction to its Islamic galleries says the term "may be confusing to some". It describes art made "specifically in the service of Islam" and also "secular art produced in lands under Islamic rule or influence, whatever the artist's or the patron's religious affiliation". LACMA names three shared features: calligraphy, which it calls "the most important and pervasive element in Islamic art"; surfaces covered with geometric or vegetal patterns; and figural imagery, which it finds "primarily in secular and especially courtly arts".

The Met's Department of Islamic Art describes a collection of more than 15,000 objects dating from the seventh to the twenty-first century, from Spain and Morocco to Central Asia and Indonesia, "comprising both sacred and secular objects". The British Museum describes its Islamic collection as material "from the seventh century to the present day" from "a series of regions stretching from West Africa to Southeast Asia". The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto describes its field as the art of "historic Muslim civilizations as well as contemporary Muslim communities and diasporas around the world".

In these definitions, Islamic art names the art of a set of regions over fourteen centuries, religious and secular together. Sheila Canby, then head of the Met's Department of Islamic Art, said in 2011 that "the objects in our galleries are primarily secular in nature".

Why Persian painting sits in the Islamic department

Persian painting as museums know it was made after Iran became part of the Islamic world. LACMA's introduction explains that under the first caliphs, Arab armies attacked "Iraq and Iran, the heart of the Persian empire, thereby ending the long reign of the Sasanian dynasty". The Met's essay on the Sasanian Empire says Arab forces defeated the Sasanian armies in 642, and that the last Sasanian ruler, Yazdgard III, died in 651. The British Institute of Persian Studies dates the rise of Persian miniature painting to Ilkhanid patronage in the 13th century, six centuries after the conquest.

The Met's Islamic galleries show that history by region. When they reopened in 2011, the galleries on Iran covered "Iran and Central Asia (9th to 13th centuries)", "Iran and Central Asia (13th to 16th centuries)" and "Safavid and Later Iran (16th to 20th centuries)". The Met's press release calls the last two "a chronological overview of the art of the Persian world, while underscoring its many connections with other cultures". The Met also excavated at Nishapur, in northeastern Iran, in 1935 to 1939 and in 1947, and shows finds from the site in two of these galleries. Our page on the words Persian and Iranian shows how the Met and other museums name these galleries.

What sits outside: Persian art before Islam

Persian art is older than Islamic art by more than a thousand years, and museums show the older part elsewhere. The Met's Department of Islamic Art page says the museum divided its Ancient Near Eastern and Islamic collections into separate departments in 1963. The Met's essays on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, from 550 to 330 BC, and on the Sasanian Empire, from 224 to 651, were written by the ancient department. The Achaemenid essay describes the stone reliefs of Persepolis, which show tribute bearers from different parts of the empire walking toward the enthroned king. The Sasanian essay calls Sasanian silver vessels "the most renowned Sasanian objects" and says Sasanian art expressed "a new Iranian cultural identity".

The break at the Arab conquest was gradual in the art itself. LACMA says that for a time "artists who had lately worked under Byzantine or Sasanian patronage initially continued to follow preexisting conventions, but under Muslim patronage", so "it is therefore difficult at times to distinguish between early Islamic and pre-Islamic art". Its example is a stucco plaque of a king hunting on horseback from a small palace in northern Iran, dated to the end of the seventh or the first half of the eighth century, whose crown and style belong to Sasanian art. LACMA adds that "the art of pre-Islamic Iran had a particularly strong impact on the development of early Islamic metalwork". The Met's first Islamic gallery shows "pre-Islamic traditions from ancient Rome, Byzantium, and Persia that evolved into Islamic art under the Umayyads". Our page on the history of Persian art follows the whole sequence from Persepolis to today.

What is specific to Persian art

Within the Islamic galleries, the sources name several features that belong to Persian art in particular. Persian culture spread far beyond Iran, so each feature also appears outside it, and together they mark the tradition.

The Persian language

The Met's educator guide explains that most of the works it introduces were made where "Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Urdu" were spoken, and that Persian "is an Indo-European language, like English or French", while Arabic is a Semitic language. Persian was written in the Arabic alphabet. The Encyclopaedia Iranica entry on Early New Persian by Ludwig Paul says that from the 11th to the 19th century Persian was "one main carrier of Iranian and Islamic civilization" across an area from Anatolia to the edge of China, and shaped the courts of Turkic, Mongol and Indian dynasties. LACMA dates the start of this to the Samanids, "one of several Persian dynasties" in Khurasan and Transoxiana in the late ninth and tenth centuries, whose age "witnessed a rebirth of Persian culture, marking the rise of modern Persian literature".

The painted books of the Persian tradition are mostly books of Persian poetry. The British Institute of Persian Studies names the Shahnama of Ferdowsi and the Khamsa of Nizami among the texts that inspired painters from the 13th to the 17th century, and the Met holds painted pages from Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr and Sa'di's Bustan. Our page on Persian poetry in painting covers these poets.

Persian scripts

Calligraphy belongs to all Islamic art, and it began with the Qur'an. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art says calligraphy "originally evolved to give visual form to the Koran", and that in Iran the codified scripts of the Arabic alphabet were used for both Arabic and Persian until the fourteenth century. In the second half of the 14th century, a new script emerged. The Smithsonian says nastaliq's "sinuous lines, short vertical strokes, and astonishing sense of rhythm" made it "particularly well suited for copying Persian verse", and that by 1430 it was used "throughout the Persian-speaking world", from Istanbul to Delhi and from Bukhara to Baghdad. The Encyclopaedia Iranica entry on calligraphy by Gholam-Hosayn Yusofi says the distinctive Persian features of Persian writing appear mainly in the ta'liq, shekasteh-ta'liq, nastaliq and shekasteh-nastaliq scripts. Our page on types of Persian calligraphy explains each script.

The illustrated book

The Persian court workshop made books as complete works of art. The Met's educator page on the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp describes the Safavid "house of books" (kitabkhana), "at once a library and a workshop", where papermakers, scribes, painters, illuminators and binders each did their part. The Met's essay on Timurid art says "the Herat school is often regarded as the apogee of Persian painting". The Met's educator guide also notes the influence of Persian painting and calligraphy on the art of Mughal India. Our page on Persian miniature painting describes how these books were made.

Stories from before Islam

The best-loved book in Persian painting tells the history of Iran before Islam. The Smithsonian describes Ferdowsi's Shahnameh as an epic of more than 100,000 lines that "recounts the history of Iran from the beginning of time to the conquest of Islam in the seventh century". LACMA's 2018 exhibition In the Fields of Empty Days said that from the 14th century, illustrated Shahnama manuscripts "recast Iran's pre-Islamic kings and heroes as contemporary Islamic rulers". The Met describes the second poem of Nizami's Khamsa as a love story about "the last great Sasanian ruler, Khusrau II, and his beloved Armenian princess, Shirin". Our page on the Shahnameh in painting tells its main stories.

Figurative painting

People and animals fill Persian painting, and the museums explain how that fits within Islamic art. The Met's educator guide says "there is no prohibition against the depiction of humans or animals mentioned in the Qur'an", that objections come from the hadith, the sayings of the Prophet, and that "in most Islamic regions throughout history, a common compromise was to use figural imagery in a secular context but not in a religious one". The Met's essay on figural representation says that for manuscript illustration, "miniature paintings were integral parts of these works of art as visual aids to the text, therefore no restrictions were imposed". LACMA adds that figurative art is kept out of the decoration of religious buildings and is "almost invariably restricted to a private context".

Islamic art as the museums define it, and Persian art as a tradition within and before it

Question	Islamic art (museum usage)	Persian art	Sources
Time span	Seventh century to the present	From the Achaemenid Empire (550 to 330 BC) to the present	Met
Place	Spain and West Africa to Indonesia	Iran and the Persian-speaking world, from Anatolia to the edge of China at its widest	Met; British Museum; Encyclopaedia Iranica
Language of the texts	Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and others	Persian, an Indo-European language written in the Arabic alphabet	Met
Religion of makers and patrons	Mostly Muslim, with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Zoroastrians and Buddhists in the same lands	Zoroastrian state religion under the Sasanians; Muslim after the conquest, with Shi'a Islam official from 1501	Met
Figures	Found in secular and courtly art, kept out of religious settings	Central to manuscript painting and, from the 17th century, single-page portraits	Met; LACMA; British Institute of Persian Studies
Signature script	Kufic for early Qur'an copies, then the six classical scripts	Nastaliq, from the 14th century	Encyclopaedia Iranica; Smithsonian
Where to find it at the Met	Department of Islamic Art	Islamic galleries on Iran after the conquest; the ancient department before it	Met

Where the two overlap

Religious subjects in Persian painting

Persian painters also painted the Prophet. The Met's page for "The Mi'raj or The Night Flight of Muhammad on his Steed Buraq", a page from a Bustan of Sa'di that the Met dates to 1525 to 1535 and attributes to Bukhara and Herat, says "Persian poets from the thirteenth century onward prefaced their epics with a colorful description of the mi'raj", the Prophet's ascent into the presence of God. The Met notes that this painting shows the Prophet's face unveiled, and that later pictures generally show him veiled, and "in more recent times even his entire body is usually symbolized by a white cloud or a rose".

Shi'a Islam and Sufi poetry

The Met's essay on Safavid art says that when Isma'il was crowned in Tabriz in 1501, "Shi'a Islam became the official religion of the new Safavid state", and that the Safavids "descended from a long line of Sufi shaikhs" at Ardabil. Sufi ideas run through the poems that painters illustrated. The Encyclopaedia Iranica says the Simorgh became a metaphor for God in Sufi poetry, most famously in Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr, and that in mystical poetry "the nightingale's yearning for the rose served as a metaphor for the soul's yearning for union with God". The Met describes Nizami's Layla and Majnun as a story in which Majnun wanders the desert singing of his longing, "as the mystic longs for the union with God". Our page on symbols in Persian painting explains these images.

Shared ornament

The Met's Department of Islamic Art page names "vegetal ornament (the arabesque) and geometric patterning" as motifs exchanged between sacred and secular art across the Islamic world. Persian artists have their own names for them. The Encyclopaedia Iranica entry on decoration by Priscilla Soucek says 15th-century writers called the arabesque eslimi and the vine-like lotus scroll, which came from Chinese designs, khatai. Illumination with gold is shared as well: in 2023 UNESCO inscribed the art of illumination, tazhib in Persian, as a joint heritage of Azerbaijan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkiye and Uzbekistan, used on "religious texts, literary and historical manuscripts, marriage deeds and even commercial treaties". The Persian art glossary defines these terms.

Modern and contemporary art

The question returns in modern art. The Met's essay on modern Iranian art explains that the critic Karim Emami used the word saqqakhana in 1963 for a group of Tehran artists. A saqqakhana is a public water fountain that commemorates the Shi'i martyrs of Karbala in 680. Emami chose the word because these artists drew on Shi'i votive objects and on popular culture, while others in the group drew on pre-Islamic Iran. The Asia Society's 2013 exhibition Iran Modern described the Saqqakhaneh artists as influenced "as much by Shi'ite folk art, as by pre-Islamic art and international formal strategies".

Museum collecting of contemporary work follows the same two lines. LACMA writes that "the parameters of Islamic art at LACMA have expanded to include contemporary works by artists from or with roots in the Middle East", and its 2015 exhibition Islamic Art Now included work by Shirin Neshat and other artists from Iran. The Aga Khan Museum collects art of "contemporary Muslim communities and diasporas". At the same time, exhibitions such as the Asia Society's Iran Modern present the same generation under the name of the country. Our page on modern Iranian art follows the story from the 1960s to today.

Both sides in one painter's work

The two traditions can meet in a single contemporary practice. Kamal al-Din Ghotb, whose gallery page says he has practised Persian painting for 41 years in the classical miniature tradition, in oil and gold on paper, has painted both kinds of subject. His Siyavash Passing Through the Fire, described on its product page as "the trial by fire from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh", tells a story from the Shahnameh's history of Iran before Islam, with nastaliq verse set in cloud-shaped panels on gold. His Mi'raj shows a haloed rider on Buraq crossing a lapis sky among angels and gold clouds, with the Kaaba at the lower right; its page calls it "the subject of the classical Mi'raj-nama manuscripts", framed by couplets in nastaliq script. His available works are in the Kamal al-Din Ghotb collection, and his artist page describes his training.

Frequently asked questions

Is Persian art part of Islamic art?

Persian art made after the Arab conquest of Iran in the seventh century is treated as part of Islamic art by the Met and LACMA, because Iran was ruled by Muslim dynasties. Persian art made before the conquest, such as the Achaemenid reliefs of Persepolis and Sasanian silver, is older than Islam and is covered at the Met by its ancient Near Eastern department. So Persian art falls partly inside and partly before Islamic art.

What does the term Islamic art mean?

The term Islamic art, as the Met uses it, covers the art of regions historically ruled or mainly inhabited by Muslims, from Spain to Indonesia, from the seventh century to the present. It includes religious and secular objects and works made by non-Muslims under Muslim rule. LACMA gives the same scope, covering art made in lands under Islamic rule or influence whatever the maker's or patron's religion.

Why is Persian painting shown in Islamic art galleries?

Persian painting is shown in Islamic art galleries because the Persian painted book developed after Iran joined the Islamic world, under Muslim courts from the Ilkhanids to the Qajars. The Met explains that art from lands ruled for long periods by Muslim dynasties has been studied and presented together. Its 2011 press release calls its Iran galleries an overview of "the art of the Persian world".

Does Islam forbid pictures of people?

Islam's holy book, the Qur'an, contains no prohibition against depicting humans or animals, according to the Met's educator guide. Objections appear in the hadith, the sayings of the Prophet. The Met says the common compromise in most Islamic regions was to use figures in secular settings and keep them out of religious ones, and that manuscript illustrations, as aids to the text, were free of restriction.

Did Persian painters depict the Prophet Muhammad?

Persian painters did depict the Prophet Muhammad, most often in scenes of the mi'raj, his ascent to heaven. The Met says Persian poets from the 13th century prefaced their epics with a description of the mi'raj. Its page from a Bustan of Sa'di, dated 1525 to 1535, shows his face unveiled; the Met notes that later pictures usually veil the face.

Why did the Met split its ancient Near Eastern and Islamic collections?

The Met split its ancient Near Eastern and Islamic collections in 1963 because, its Department of Islamic Art page says, the number of objects had grown to a point that required an official division. Both had been overseen by a Department of Near Eastern Art since 1932. The split means art from Iran is divided between two departments at the Arab conquest.

What makes nastaliq a Persian script?

Nastaliq is a Persian script because it was developed in Iran in the 14th century for writing Persian. The Smithsonian says a script called naskh-i ta'liq emerged in the mid-14th century, was later shortened to nastaliq, and suited Persian verse with its sinuous lines and rhythm. The Encyclopaedia Iranica names ta'liq, nastaliq and shekasta as the scripts with distinctive Persian features.

How did Sasanian art shape early Islamic art?

Sasanian art shaped early Islamic art because artists trained under Sasanian patrons kept working under Muslim rulers. LACMA says it is at times difficult to tell early Islamic from pre-Islamic art, and gives a stucco plaque of a hunting king from northern Iran as an example. LACMA also says pre-Islamic Iran had a strong impact on early Islamic metalwork.

Why does the Shahnameh tell stories from before Islam?

The Shahnameh tells stories from before Islam because Ferdowsi wrote it as the history of Iran from the beginning of time to the Islamic conquest in the seventh century, according to the Smithsonian. LACMA notes that from the 14th century, illustrated copies recast Iran's pre-Islamic kings and heroes as contemporary Islamic rulers, so the paintings join both pasts in one image.

When did Shi'a Islam become the official religion of Iran?

Shi'a Islam became the official religion of Iran in 1501, when Isma'il was crowned in Tabriz as the first Safavid shah, according to the Met. LACMA's 2018 exhibition In the Fields of Empty Days said this change helped fix the remembrance of the martyred Shi'ite Imams in Iranian culture, a theme that carries forward in contemporary Iranian art.

Is contemporary Iranian art classed as Islamic art?

Contemporary Iranian art is classed as Islamic art by some museums and under the name of the country by others. LACMA has expanded its Islamic art collection to include contemporary artists from or with roots in the Middle East, including Shirin Neshat. The Aga Khan Museum collects art of contemporary Muslim communities, while the Asia Society titled its modern survey Iran Modern.

References

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Checked 27 September 2026. If something here is out of date, write to us and we will correct it.