Jewel-like colors, rich patterns, precise execution and virtuoso draftmanship characterize the best of Persian miniature painting: the perfect realization of an ideal world. This fully illustrated book provides a concise account of Persian painting from about 1300 to 1900. Beginning with the materials and tools which enabled the artists to achieve their remarkable effects, Sheila Canby goes on to survey the stylistic development of Persian painting and the influences upon it of over six centuries of Iran’s turbulent history.