AP Art History Unit 7 Cheatsheet: West and Central Asia, 500 BCE-1980 CE

Ceramics: Lusterware and cobalt-on-white slip painting developed in West Asia. Used for utilitarian vessels and glazed-tile architectural decoration (Seljuk through Safavid dynasties; Great Mosque of Isfahan tile mosaic; Ottoman underglaze-painted Iznik tiles).

Metalwork: Casting, beating, chasing, inlaying, embossing. Created plaques, vessels, arms, armor, sculpture. Buddhist metalwork in bronze, copper, brass, silver with gilding, inlay, paint.

Textiles: Silk-tapestry weaving, silk velvets, wool and silk carpets—dominant trade items between Europe and Asia.

Painting & Calligraphy: Wall painting, manuscript painting, thangkas (Buddhist cloth paintings). Calligraphy prominent in Islamic art for sacred texts; appears on architecture, ceramics, manuscripts.

Mosque components:

• Qibla wall—faces Mecca
• Mihrab—empty niche for prayer
• Minbar—pulpit for imam
• Minaret—call to prayer
• Central courtyard—accommodates practitioners

Decoration: Typically nonfigural in mosques and Qur'ans—calligraphy, vegetal (arabesque), and geometric forms; figural imagery is common in secular/courtly art such as illustrated Shahnama folios and metalwork like the Basin (Baptistère de St. Louis).

Other Islamic religious architecture: Sacred shrines (Kaaba, Dome of the Rock), tomb architecture.

Buddhist architecture: Cave temples with relief carving, sculpture, wall painting; stupas and monastic architecture in Tibet.

Works created for and acquired by:

• Royal and wealthy patrons
• Lay and monastic religious practitioners
• Foreign collectors (gift or trade)

Trade impact: Textiles dominated Europe-Asia trade. Islamic metalworks (including Christian subjects) traded in Mediterranean regions. Iznik ceramics exported widely.

Persianate influence: Timurid and Safavid dynasties (Iran) refined and exported styles that influenced Ottoman (Turkey) and Mughal (India) arts.