This volume deals with the formative period of Islamic art (to c. 950), and the different approaches to studying it. Individual essays deal with architecture, ceramics, coins, textiles, and manuscripts, as well as with such broad questions as the supposed prohibition of images, and the relationships between sacred and secular art. An introductory essay sets each work in context; it is complemented by a bibliography for further reading.

Contents: Introduction; Notes on Arabic archaeology, Max van Berchem; The genesis of Islamic art and the problem of Mshatta, Ernst Herzfeld; ‘Abbasid Lustrewares, Ernst Kühnel; The lawfulness of painting in early Islam, K. A. C. Creswell; The Mosque and the Palace, Jean Sauvaget; Mihrab and ‘Anazah: a study in Islamic iconography, George C. Miles; The Greek sources of Islamic scientific illustrations, Kurt Weitzmann; Deacon or drink: some paintings from Samarra re-examined, David Storm Rice; The Umayyad dome of the rock in Jerusalem, Oleg Grabar; Zandaniji identified?, D.G. Shepherd and W. Henning; The throne and banquet hall of Khirbat al-Mafjar, Richard Ettinghausen; La DolceVita in early Islamic Syria: the evidence of later Umayyad palaces, Robert Hillenbrand; The origins of the Mih‘rab Mujawwaf: a reinterpretation, Estelle Whelan; Al-Ma’mun’s Blue Koran?, Jonathan M. Bloom; Index.

Reviews: 'This well-illustrated collection is a must for university and college libraries.' Religion and the Arts