Islamic Art | Civilisations

Duration: 4'41''

Synopsis

Mary Beard explores Islamic artwork and the debates within Islam about the role of artists and images.

Further Information

More clips from Civilisations

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 58'53''

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make the unseen ...

San Vitale, Ravenna | Civilisations

San Vitale, Ravenna | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 4'45''

The divisions between different groups of early Christians are reflected in the art of the church of San Vitale, Ravenna.

The Blue Mosque | Civilisations

The Blue Mosque | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'38''

Mary Beard visits the Blue Mosque and explores the beautiful calligraphy within it.

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'58''

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make t...

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 58'53''

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make the unseen ...

San Vitale, Ravenna | Civilisations

San Vitale, Ravenna | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 4'45''

The divisions between different groups of early Christians are reflected in the art of the church of San Vitale, Ravenna.

The Blue Mosque | Civilisations

The Blue Mosque | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'38''

Mary Beard visits the Blue Mosque and explores the beautiful calligraphy within it.

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'58''

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make t...

More resources about Art and Design

S1E4: West Africa | Lost Kingdoms of Africa

S1E4: West Africa | Lost Kingdoms of Africa

BBC Four | 2010 | 48'51''

Gus Casely-Hayford travels to Nigeria and Mali to explore the story behind a series of magnificent 16th-century bronzes made in t...

Propaganda films | Age of the Image

Propaganda films | Age of the Image

BBC Four | 2020 | 4'39''

James Fox explains the method in which propaganda was created to advertise Nazism.

1: Liberty, Diversity, Depravity | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

1: Liberty, Diversity, Depravity | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'56''

In 18th century England, out of the Age of Enlightenment came a Gothic obsession with monsters ...

Charles is Executed | Charles I's Treasure Reunited

Charles is Executed | Charles I's Treasure Reunited

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'27''

Brenda Emmanus discusses the execution of Charles I.

1: Ghosts in the Machine | The Genius of Design

1: Ghosts in the Machine | The Genius of Design

BBC HD | 2010 | 58'37''

The story of the birth of industrial design, from celebrated names to the work of anonymous designers responsible for prosaic...

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 5'35''

David Olusoga visits the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

1: The Man Who Wanted to Know Everything | Leonardo

1: The Man Who Wanted to Know Everything | Leonardo

BBC One | 2003 | 59'35''

Dramatised reconstruction of the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Documentary examining the life of Leonardo da Vinci, from his...

2: Andreas Vesalius | The Beauty of Anatomy

2: Andreas Vesalius | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 29'10''

Adam Rutherford tells the story of 16th-century anatomist Andreas Vesalius, who produced the first complete account of the human ...

2: The City and the Soul | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

2: The City and the Soul | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'59''

As the Industrial Revolution promised more inexplicable wonders of the modern world, Gothic art and lit...

Anatomy in Tudor Britain | The Beauty of Anatomy

Anatomy in Tudor Britain | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 2'49''

Adam Rutherford explains how Vesalius' anatomy had reached and was being used in Tudor England.

Cobalt mining incidents | Panorama

Cobalt mining incidents | Panorama

BBC One | 2021 | 2'12''

Miners tell their stories of accidents and the working conditions in the cobalt mines of Kolwezi, DRC.

Episode 1 | Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

Episode 1 | Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

BBC Two | 2024 | 59'17''

Michelangelo and Leonardo struggle to make their reputations in the brutal world of Renaissance Italy, as both must play a ...

4: The Hunter Brothers | The Beauty of Anatomy

4: The Hunter Brothers | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 29'12''

How the Hunter brothers transformed medicine and art in 18th-century Britain, believing that anatomy could only be learnt by p...

Charles I's Treasure Reunited

Charles I's Treasure Reunited

BBC Two | 2018 | 59'08''

Brenda Emmanus explores the art collection of Charles I, much of which is being reunited for a unique exhibition for the first time since his e...

Early anatomy theatre | The Beauty of Anatomy

Early anatomy theatre | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 3'23''

Adam Rutherford visits one of the very few surviving original anatomy theatres in the world.

Florence Nightingale's rose diagram | The Beauty of Diagrams

Florence Nightingale's rose diagram | The Beauty of Diagrams

BBC Four | 2010 | 1'25''

Florence Nightingale's revolutionary and controversial rose diagram showed that hospitals, as they were, could k...

The Industrial Revolution | Civilisations

The Industrial Revolution | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'04''

David Olusoga the social, cultural and scientific changes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, as depicted in art.

01: Home | Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners

01: Home | Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'37''

Mark Miodownik shows that some of the everyday objects that are often taken for granted are in fact...

2: Love and Loss | Becoming Frida Kahlo

2: Love and Loss | Becoming Frida Kahlo

BBC Two | 2023 | 59'01''

Now married and living in 1930s America, Frida sees the ugly side of capitalism, while political scandal engulfs Diego. Miscarriage a...

Banksy: The Mystery

Banksy: The Mystery

BBC News | 2024 | 24'32''

Money, art, politics: what we know about how the secret Banksy empire works.

More from Mary Beard

Marc Quinn - Alison Lapper Pregnant | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

Marc Quinn - Alison Lapper Pregnant | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

BBC Two | 2020 | 3'34''

Marc Quinn wanted to challenge the norm of form and decided to sculpt people with disabilities, leading ...

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

The Crucifixion by Tintoretto | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'58''

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make t...

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard

BBC HD | 2012 | 59'05''

Professor Mary Beard traces the story of several ordinary yet remarkable Roman citizens.

The representation of black bodies in Art History | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

The representation of black bodies in Art History | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

BBC Two | 2020 | 4'43''

It is rare to find nude black bodies featured in Western art before the mid-twentieth cent...

Representation of suffering bodies in Christianity | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

Representation of suffering bodies in Christianity | Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude

BBC Two | 2020 | 4'46''

Mary Beard looks at how Christianity has influenced the depiction of human bodies in West...