[MR] Islamic scribal arts

[Michelle L. McDaniel]

Hey all!

One of my other lists has posted a query I thought someone here might be
able to help with.

As this is an art student, the more scholarly references the better. Full
citations are helpful, though just author and title are useful as well.

Begin forwarded message:

I wonder if anyone out there in the Collective Wisdom who might have
some ideas about this reference question.  Alas, I'm not great at
Islamic Art and a student would like some direction in any sources that
TRACE the EVOLUTION of the depiction of the prophet Muhammad in painting
--  (from fully depicted, to veiled, to flaming face or cloud etc.).
The student has been able to access books that present particular
images, however, she hasn't been able to find any source that explains
why he is depicted differently, when each change occurs, and what the
symbolism of the images mean.  She has already searched the resources
on-line, incl. those in humanities, art, and index Islamicus using
prophet Muhammad and art as search terms.  If anyone knows of a good
resource, we'd be very grateful.

End of forwarded message.

Any help any of y'all could provide would be most appreciated.

Boy do I love it when my profession and hobbies collide! ;-)

**aelfwynn of whitby** (whose day job is a cataloguer for an art archives)