PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

This presentation explores a number of paintings of the Prophet Muhammad produced in Persian and Turkish lands from the fourteenth century to the modern day. Ranging from veristic to abstract, these images represent Muhammad’s individual traits, primordial luminosity, and veiled essence. Their pictorial motifs reveal that artists engaged in abstract thought and turned to symbolic motifs in order to imagine Muhammad, the “praiseworthy” Prophet and Messenger of Islam. The talk is related to Gruber’s recently published book, The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images (Indiana University Press, 2019).