MATERIALS

Materials

Miniature Painting

Miniature Painting

Islamic miniature painting is generally understood to mean small paintings that are or once were part of a manuscript, used as a frontispiece or an illustration for a text. Drawings and individual paintings have, however, also been preserved. They were either sketches or were intended to be placed as independent works of art in an album.

The miniatures usually had a paper base, but cardboard and in rare cases cotton or silk cloth were also used. The brilliant colors are usually opaque.

The oldest preserved miniature paintings were made in around the year 1000, but not until around 1200 were they found in larger numbers. Islamic miniature painting is often categorized rather summarily into four regional schools: the Arab, the Persian, the Indian, and the Ottoman Turkish.

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ISLAMIC ART: MINIATURE PAINTING

Islamic Art: Miniature painting

Item no. 48 of 50
6/2010, Decoupage-arbejde / Decoupage work
6_20106_2010detalje
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Decoupage work, colored, embossed cardboard and feathers

Turkey; end of 17th century
Mat: 77 × 57 cm

The Ottoman court’s interest in decoupage work goes back to the second half of the 16th century. This special technique was mastered right into the 19th century by a few specialized artists, and in contrast to miniature painting, the output was fairly small. The preferred motifs were flowers and gardens, which were created from many little pieces of colored paper and cardboard. One of the garden’s elements – birds – was chosen as the main motif here, and the use of real feathers together with embossed cardboard for the cock’s feet and comb, among other things, makes this monumental depiction especially lifelike. The birds are framed by a large-patterned mat, crowned by a colorful mirror-image inscription: Muhammad.

Inv. no. 6/2010