WEST & CENTRAL ASIA
500 BCE - 1980 CE 

Cultural Influences

• The religious arts of West and Central Asia are united by the traditions of the region—Buddhism and Islam. Cultures of these regions are diverse, but they were united through their shared beliefs and practices, particularly the world religions of Buddhism, which originated in the 6th century BCE in South Asia, and of Islam, which originated in the 7th century CE in West Asia.

• West Asia is the cradle of arts produced in regions with a dominant Islamic culture. These arts may be religious or secular in nature and may or may not have been made by or for Muslims. The term "Islamic art" may be applied to these diverse art forms. Many examples of Islamic art from across the traditional Islamic land share similarities in terms of their content and visual characteristics.

• Pilgrimage is an important religious practice in Islam and Buddhism, and is a key focus of several monuments and artworks in West and Central Asia including the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam; the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem; and the Buddha sculpture Jowo Rinpoche, considered the most sacred image in Tibet.

Materials & Techniques

• Ceramic arts have flourished in West Asia since the prehistoric era, and many technical advancements in this media, such as the development of lusterware and cobalt-on-white slip painting, developed there. Ceramic arts were used to create utilitarian vessels and elaborate painted and mosaic-tile architectural decoration, carrying forward artistic practices explored in ancient West Asia (the Near East). High points in West and Central Asian ceramics include Persian mosaic tile architecture from the Seljuk through the Safavid dynasties, as seen in the Great Mosque of Isfahan, and Iznik tile work and export ceramics created during the Ottoman dynasty.

• Metalwork and metallurgy flourished in West and Central Asia in the creation of metal plaques, vessels, arms, armor and tack, sculpture, and decorative objects of all kinds. Islamic metalwork is widely regarded as one of the finest decorative art forms of the medieval world. Metal sculpture was an important art form in Central Asian and Himalayan Buddhist art, which created Buddhist figures in bronze, copper, brass, and silver, and often ornamented them with gilding, metal inlay, and paint. Metal artworks were created through various processes including casting, beating, chasing, inlaying, and embossing.

• Painting in West and Central Asia usually took three forms—wall painting, manuscript painting, and in the Himalayan regions, the painting of thangkas (large paintings on cloth) of Buddhist deities and mandalas. Calligraphy was a prominent art form, particularly in Islamic art in West Asia where beautiful forms were created to transmit sacred texts. Calligraphy is found on architecture, decorative arts objects, and ceramic tiles, as well as in manuscripts written on paper, cloth, or vellum.

Theories, Interpretations, & Cultural Interactions

• Historical cultures of West and Central Asia reside in a vast area that includes the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, Anatolia, Greater Iran, Central Asia, Inner Asia, and Himalayan Asia. These regions have had shifting political boundaries throughout their histories and include lands associated with the former Soviet Union and modern China. They form the heart of the ancient Silk Route that connected the Greco-Roman world with China and India.

• The arts of West and Central Asia had great international impact through trade. Textiles were perhaps the most important art form in these regions and dominated much of the international trade between Europe and Asia. Islamic metalworks, including examples with Christian subject matter, were created for trade in the regions bordering the Mediterranean. Ceramics were another important trade item, particularly the Iznik wares created in Turkey.

• West Asian art finds its greatest source of refinement and international influence in the Persianate arts from the Timurid and Safavid dynasties of Iran, which influenced the Ottoman arts of Turkey and the Mughal arts of India. Styles of art in Central Asia can be divided into Persianate Islamic styles, which maintain developments made in West Asian art, and Indian inspired styles, which are characterized by the idealized figural art traditions of South Asia.

• Islamic art that is created for religious purposes does not contain figural imagery. Mosque architecture is decorated with nonfigural imagery, including calligraphy, geometric, and vegetal forms. Manuscripts or objects containing sacred texts may contain calligraphy, illumination, or geometric and vegetal decoration, but should not contain figural imagery.