The Image of Woman in Miniature Painting

The image of the chaste woman in Islamic miniature painting stems from the dignity and status recognized for women in Islamic thought. Iranian miniature painters, like the literati of this land, regarded the presence of women as a manifestation of divine beauty in a particular form in this world, using it as a medium to express their spiritual dialogues with the Creator. Through metaphorical language, they depicted women as symbols of the grace and purity of the beloved God. In this book, the author examines the spiritual characteristics of exemplary women from Islamic, mystical, and literary perspectives and explains how the outward and inward traits portrayed in these women in major Iranian miniature paintings reflect these attributes.