Islamic Art

Early Islamic art was influenced greatly by the Byzantine empire and the Sasanian empire as well. When the Byzantine and Sasanian empires had their own artwork, they progressed little by little into Muslim patronage. A good, traditional example of these empires showing how they progressed with Islamic art is a stucco relief plaque, with a king riding a horse in the mountains. This image was very common in early islamic art and with the byzantine empire as well. Glass work was also common but was influenced with Roman styles. During the medieval times, the Islamic empire was gaining power and was moving into various parts of Italy and Africa. Different religious backgrounds influenced many forms of art because within these areas, there was a lot of diversity with religions. Countries also were at different standards of living. For example, Egypt was in the Golden Age, where they had vast amounts of gold, jewels, and and crystals. In the later times, the late medieval era, Chinese culture started to affect Islamic art. There were more colors and metal involved within the artwork. The art had a better sense of life. Mongolian culture also affected the artwork because their art depicted fantasy items, such as clouds, dragons, and various flowers. In addition, scripts were inclusive as well, especially Shananama.