ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΑΚΩΝ, ΜΕΣΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΩΝ & ΙΣΛΑΜΙΚΩΝ ΣΠΟΥΔΩΝ

History, especially in lands where the arts are immediately associated with court patronage, can be very much clarified and better apprehended by looking at the material culture of the period in question. In this series of articles dealing with the arts and the material culture of Middle Eastern lands, the immediate aim is to represent the connection between history, religion, ethnic/royal identity, politics, norms, society and how these are mirrored through art. A second aim is to highlight near-hidden gems of the Islamic artistic repertoire, bringing into question widespread assumptions that Islam may have prohibited the blossoming of artistic production.