Persian miniature is a small Persian painting
A Persian miniature is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book
illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of
such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are broadly comparable to the
Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated
manuscripts. Although there is an equally well-established Persian
tradition of wall-painting, the survival rate and state of preservation of
miniatures is better, and miniatures are much the best-known form of
Persian painting in the West, and many of the most important examples are
in Western, or Turkish, museums.
Miniature painting became a significant genre in Persian art in the 13th
century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests, and the
highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, and has
many modern exponents. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on
other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in
Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent.
