Manuscripts, Calligraphy and Painting

The al-Sabah Collection is rich in manuscripts of the Qur’an. These range from a double page from one of the earliest such manuscripts, copied in the second century of Islam in a distinctive vertical script known as hijazi to a superbly decorated, large format manuscript signed by a famous calligrapher from Shiraz, while working at the royal court of Golconda in the Deccan in the 16th century CE.

An enormous number of Islamic manuscripts survive though relatively few are illustrated, particularly when it comes to works of Arabic literature. By contrast, a large number of illustrated manuscripts of Persian poetry were produced, some of the most important and beautiful examples of Islamic book arts.

Miniature paintings and calligraphic exercises were included in albums prepared for royal patrons. The schools of painting inherited by Mughal India and the Deccan were profoundly changed by exposure to Persian painting, but developed in different directions, retaining an interest in realistic depictions of the natural world.