page_title: Iraqi art
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Iraqi art / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Al-Kadhimiya Mosque in Baghdad
context_page_description: Iraqi art, throughout its entire history, has been influenced by war, revolutions and frequent political changes. For centuries, the capital, Baghdad was the Medieval centre of the literary and artistic Arab world, but its artistic traditions suffered at the hands of the Mongol invaders in the 13th century. During other periods it has flourished, such as during the reign of Pir Budaq, or under Ottoman rule in the 16th century when Baghdad was known for its Ottoman miniature painting. During the rule of the Safavids, Iraqi art was influenced by Persian art, and it became a centre of poetry as well as arts. In the 20th century, an art revival, which combined both tradition and modern techniques, produced many notable poets, painters and sculptors who contributed to the inventory of public artworks, especially in Baghdad. These artists are highly regarded in the Middle East, and some have earned international recognition. The Iraqi modern art movement had a profound influence on pan-Arab art generally.
context_section_description: The art historian, Nada Shabout, points out that Iraqi art remains largely undocumented. The West has very little idea about Iraqi art. Problems associated with documenting a complete picture of Iraqi art have been compounded by the fact that many 20th-century artists, art historians and philosophers have been forced into exile, where they are isolated from their heritage and current practices. In addition, much of Iraq's art heritage has been looted or destroyed during periods of revolution, war and political unrest.
  Iraq's art has a deep heritage that extends back in time to ancient Mesopotamian art. Iraq has one of the longest written traditions in the world. Maqam traditions in music and calligraphy have survived into the modern day. However, the continuity of Iraq's arts culture has been subject to the vicissitudes of invading armies for centuries. The Mongol invasion of the 13th century devastated much traditional art and craft and is generally seen as a break in the tradition of Iraqi art.
  Although British archaeologists excavated a number of Iraqi sites, including Nimrud, Ninevah and Tell Halaf in Iraq in the 19th century, they sent many of the artefacts and statues to museums around the world. It was not until the early 20th century, when a small group of Iraqi artists were awarded scholarships to study abroad, that they became aware of ancient Sumerian art by visiting pretigious museums such as the Louvre, enabling them to reconnect with their cultural and intellectual heritage. Nevertheless, figurines, dating to the Neolithic period, found at the Palace of Tell Halaf and elsewhere, attest to Iraq's ancient artistic heritage.
  The Sassanids ruled the region that is now Iraq and Iran between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Sasanian art is best represented in metalwork, jewellery, architecture and wall-reliefs. Few paintings from this period have survived, but an understanding of jewellery ornamentation can be inferred from pictorial and sculptural representations.
  During the early Islamic period, writing was transformed into an "iconophoric message...a carrier of meaning independent of its form [and] into a subject worthy of the most elaborate ornamentation."  Another development during this period was the use of repeating patterns or motifs on scrolls and wall-reliefs. Inherited from the Muslims, this highly stylised system of ornamentation was subsequently given the label of arabesque.
  The Abassid Dynasty controlled much of the region now encompassed by Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria, between the 8th and 13th-centuries. During the Abassid period, pottery achieved a high level of sophistication, calligraphy began to be used to decorate the surface of decorative objects and illuminated manuscripts, particularly Q'ranic texts became more complex and stylised. Iraq's first art school was established during this period, allowing artisans and crafts to flourish.
  At the height of the Abassid period, in the late 12th century, a stylistic movement of manuscript illustration and calligraphy emerged. Now known as the Baghdad School (or Mesopotamian School), this movement of Islamic art was characterised by representations of everyday life and the use of highly expressive faces rather than the stereotypical characters that had been used in the past. The school consisted of calligraphers, illustrators, transcribers and translators, who collaborated to produce illuminated manuscripts derived from non-Arabic sources. The works were primarily scientific, philosophical, social commentary or humorous entertainments. This movement continued for at least four decades, and dominated art in the first half of the 13th century. Poetry also flourished during the Abbasid period, producing notable poets including: the 9th-century Sufi poets Mansur Al-Hallaj and Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī.
  The Abbasid artist, Yahya Al-Wasiti lived in Baghdad in the late Abassid era (12th to 13th-centuries) was the pre-eminent artist of the Baghdad school. His most well-known works include the illustrations for the book of the Maqamat (Assemblies
caption: Al-Kadhimiya Mosque, Baghdad, showing use of Arabesque
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