# Baghdad School of Arab Book Painting (Maqamat Illustration)

> Illustrated copies of al-Hariri's satirical Maqamat made in Iraq, Syria and Egypt from about 1200 to the 1330s. Small framed miniatures, many touched with gold, interrupt the red and black Arabic text and show everyday urban scenes, with costume marking each figure's social type. A secular, comic, figural book art. Caution: the name 'Baghdad school' is a convenience; the BnF calls the Schefer Hariri 'Mesopotamian' and a Baghdad origin is conjectural. The costume and skin-tone coding of servants reflects period social hierarchy and should not be reproduced uncritically.

- Period: c. 1200–1350
- Where: Middle East & North Africa
- Origin: Iraq, Syria and Egypt: illustrated copies of al-Hariri's Maqamat. The best known is the Schefer Hariri (BnF Arabe 5847, copied 1237 by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti), which the BnF labels 'Mesopotamian'; a Baghdad origin is conjectural.
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Mesopotamian school, Arab school of book painting, Schefer Hariri style, Maqāmāt miniatures
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/baghdad-school-book-painting/

## How it works

- Set small framed miniatures into the text block so each scene sits beside the episode it illustrates.
- Make figures the subject and mark their social type through costume and headwear, such as the sharbush hat for officials and turbans for judges and merchants.
- Keep the staging simple and literal, with the figures as the carrier of the scene.
- Use gold accents on the miniatures, and keep the Arabic text in disciplined red and black ink.
- Repeat compositional types, such as the ruler seated cross-legged on a throne, so readers recognise scenes at once.
- Treat period depictions of servants, including darker skin tones marking low status, as evidence of historical hierarchy, not as a model to copy uncritically.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Classical text block](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/classical-text-block/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (defining)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (occasional)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (defining)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)

### Ornament
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (defining)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (occasional)

Avoids: Illusion of depth, Abundant decoration, Straight photography, Naturalistic depiction, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Fluorescent & neon, Gradients

Palette: #e8d9b5, #8c2f1f, #1b1b1b, #2f5d7c, #c8a23a, #4a6b3f

Typefaces: Arabic naskh book hand, Arabic display headings in thuluth-style script

Known for: Maqamat al-Hariri, copied and illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti (1237), BnF Arabe 5847 (Schefer Hariri), 99 miniatures; Maqamat al-Hariri, BnF Arabe 6094 (1222), earliest securely dated illustrated copy; Maqamat al-Hariri, BnF Arabe 3929 (c. 1200-1210), probably made in Amid; Maqamat al-Hariri, British Library Or. 1200 (1256), artist Umar ibn Ali ibn al-Mubarak al-Mawsili of Mosul; Maqamat al-Hariri, Vienna AF9 (1334), Mamluk Egypt or Syria

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Alike in its design choices: [Burmese Parabaik Painting (Konbaung Folding Books)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/burmese-parabaik.md) (1752–1885), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Persian Miniature (Ilkhanid, Timurid and Safavid Book Painting)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/persian-miniature.md) (c. 1300–1700), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Kinshasa Popular Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kinshasa-popular-painting.md) (1970–present), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Kanoon Children's Book Illustration (Iran, 1965 to 1979)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kanoon-childrens-illustration.md) (1965–1979), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-manuscript.md) (c. 500–present), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Persian Popular Narrative (Lithographs & Coffeehouse Painting)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/persian-popular-narrative.md) (1843–2012), 59% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maqamat_al-Hariri
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Arabe 5847 (catalogue label 'Mesopotamian')

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Baghdad School of Arab Book Painting (Maqamat Illustration)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/baghdad-school-book-painting/