Conclusion
To conclude, this survey goes some way to establish the presence of pictorial representations of living beings in Muslim art. Objects found in archaeological digs attest the earliest presence of plastic art in a Muslim context. Even though the question of the juridico-theological disapproval of figurative representation was diversely resolved – in most cases negatively – it remains no less true that its practice represents a rich manifestation of that culture. It arose from the merging of diverse artistic sources and styles, notably owed to Byzantium (mosaics, frescoes) and Persia (miniature art). This art knew different evolutional phases. At first it drew from other peoples' aesthetic traditions elements consonant with its principles and worldview before efflorescing in due course asserting characteristics entirely its own. As from the 14th century, this acquisition of specific qualities and characteristics yielded styles that could be identified and named, and ascribed to their e.g. Persian, Indian, Ottoman school. The wealth of this pictorial art does not rest only with its aesthetic splendour, its decorative or didactic features but also with the variety of the designs and techniques applied. The symbiosis between its diverse components gave it an extraordinary resilience. Illumination is undoubtedly the field in which the juridico-religious prohibition has been most conspicuously bypassed. Its practitioners were not content with representing living things they went so far as using the figure of the Prophet of Islam as one of their subjects.
