This groundbreaking work elucidates the symbolism and an entire allegorical system in Islamic painting of the Golden Age between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. Barry, a leading expert on art of the Middle East, focuses his study around the work of Bizhâd, the undisputed master of the Persian miniature and an almost mythical personality. Barry's study follows deliberately the tradition of studies by Erwin Panofsky or Emile Mâle on the symbolism of medieval Christian art. It is of considerable importance for the history of Islamic iconography, the study of which lags a century behind that of Byzantine or the Western Middle Ages.

Michael Barry is a leading scholar on medieval Islam and on modern Muslim countries who has published widely on his areas of expertise.

Stuart Cary Welch, a former curator of Harvard University Museums, is a leading expert on Persian miniatures.