Islamic

During the early centuries of Islamic history, the Muslim world's political and cultural center was the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia.  Islamic rulers often surrounded themselves with luxuries commensurate with their enormous wealth and power.  Islam has much in common with Judaism and Christianity.  In addition to the belief in one God, Islam incorporates many of the Old Testament teachings, with their sober ethical standards and hatred of idol worship, and those of the New Testament Gospels.  Islam also differs from Judaism and Christianity in its simpler organization.  Muslims worship God directly, without a hierarchy of rabbis, priests, or saints acting as intermediaries.  For this reason there isn't any art depicting the human figure for quite some time.  

Shah Tahmasp was a great patron of miniature painting.  Around 1525 he commissioned an ambitious decade-long project to produce an illustrated 742 page copy of the Shahnama.  It recounts the history of Iran from the Creation until the Muslim conquest.  This page is widely regarded as the greatest of all Persian miniature paintings.  It depicts Gayumars, the legendary first king of Iran and his court.  The King is surrounded by light amid a golden sky.  Dozens of human faces are portrayed within the rocks themselves.  The sense of lightness and airiness that permeates the painting is enhanced by its placement on the page- floating, off center on a specked background of a gold leaf.

Figures and animals do however adorn one of the most impressive examples of Islamic metal work known today, a brass basin from Egypt inlaid with gold and silver and signed six times by Muhammad Ibn Al-Zayn.  The central band depicts Mamluk hunters and Mongol enemies shown in composite view.  Running animals fill the friezes above and below.  Arabesques of inlaid silver fill the background of all the bands and roundels.  Figures and animals also decorate the inside and underside of the basin.  This basin testifies to the prestige of Islamic art in western Europe.