Bibliographical Essay

There are no studies of violence as shown in the arts produced in the Islamic lands 500­1500, despite the many depictions of it. Many good pictures and discussions of individual objects, including those showing violence, can be found in general surveys of the field.

One should also consult Eleanor Sims, Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002). It covers not only manuscript illustrations but also paintings on other types of objects, including murals, ceramics, metalwares and the like, although it is limited to greater Iran and Central Asia. In addition to a chronological overview, it offers a rare survey organised by theme. Topics such as razm -o bazm (fighting and feasting), the hero, and the illustration of texts allow readers to peruse images that often show violence across media and time.

Exhibition catalogues also offer good colour pictures of major works. Three of the most important for the discussion here are Sheila Canby et al., Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016); Linda Komaroff and Stefano Carboni (eds.), The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002); and David J. Roxburgh (ed.), Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2005).

Monographs offer more in-depth analysis of individual objects or manuscripts. Some are cited in the chapter for the individual works of art, but many of them are also covered in Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (eds.), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, 3 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) or at Grove Art on-line available through subcription at oxfordartonline.com. ArtStor, organised by the Mellon Foundation as the visual counterpart of Jstor, also offers good photographs, but again only through subscription. All readers should also consult the information available on museum websites. The one for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, is easily searchable by various terms and also has an excellent timeline with essays on different aspects of Islamic art.