Illustrated Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: An Essential Introduction to Islamic Civilization's Unparalleled Legacy of Art and Design, with More Than 500 Color Photographs and Artworks - Hardcover

This beautifully illustrated book explores the rich heritage of Islamic art. Starting with the original Arab-style courtyard mosques, it traces the development of mosque architecture over the centuries and in different cultures. Meticulously researched, with more than 500 colour photographs and artworks, the book provides an essential overview of Islamic art and architecture. From architectural monuments to pottery, carpet and costume, it embraces the range of Islamic artistic achievement, including the form revered by Muslims as the highest and purest of them all - calligraphy, the elegant decorative writing that represents the sacred words of God as revealed in the Quran.

Moya Carey received her doctorate in Islamic art from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, in 2001. She is a freelance researcher and lecturer, teaching at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Birkbeck College and on the Diploma of Asian Art at SOAS. Previously she has worked as a researcher for the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in Geneva, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the British Museum in London. Her research-interests include the history of manuscript painting in the Islamic world, medieval astronomy iconography and the role of medieval libraries in the transmission of scholarship.