Islamic Art

The Met's collection of Islamic art ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions of the Islamic world, with works from as far westward as Spain and Morocco and as far eastward as Central Asia and Indonesia. Comprised of both religious and secular objects, the collection reveals the mutual influence of artistic practices such as calligraphy and the exchange of motifs such as vegetal ornament (the arabesque), geometric patterning, and figuration in both realms.