Islamic Influence

Many forms of artistic expression evolved in the extended Islamic world over the centuries, but certain aesthetic preferences seem to have exerted a stylistic influence wherever the Islamic presence was felt. The emphasis on the decorative arts and the fondness for patterns of every kind were always very much part of this. This section of the Archive is concerned with three artistic traditions that, while outside the mainstream of the Islamic tradition proper, were clearly caught up, or influenced by, its general precepts.