Symbolic meaning in Islamic miniature art: A semiotic reading of a miniature by Al-Wasiti

Abstract

Islamic miniature art crystallized as a distinct form of creative practice across various pictorial schools, despite numerous Orientalist perspectives that dismissed it as marginal or lacking in clear symbolic depth. The features of this creative dimension are evident in the artist's ability to employ diverse artistic, religious, literary, and philosophical contexts shaped by multifaceted socio-cultural and historical interactions. In this context, painting representation in this art form emerges as a plastic interpretation – an aesthetic practice aimed at grounding the artistic act through expressive conceptualizations that forged a new and distinctive artistic vision.

 This research explores these issues and examines their manifestations in artistic practice through a plastic and semiotic analysis of a miniature by Al-Wasiti, found in the 43rd Maqama of al-Hariri's Maqamat manuscript. Through this reading, we trace the established significations and the creative vision they reveal, reflecting the artist’s capacity to elevate Islamic painting beyond the realm of simple literal practice. Within this semiotic framework, we employed mechanisms for analyzing plastic treatment, identifying their impact on constructing a symbolic dimension that reflects an aesthetic consciousness using representation as a medium for artistic and creative expression.