Flora islamica

The David Collection focuses on flowers with a new special exhibition that illustrates the overwhelming visual importance of plant motifs for art in the world of Islam. For more than a thousand years, trees, plants, and flowers were among the most prevalent motifs in the art of the Islamic world. Many of these works of art saw the light of day in hot, dry, barren regions, which might explain why the lushness of the Paradise described in the Koran and that of artificially irrigated earthly gardens was especially attractive to Muslim artists. Classical Islamic art has been somewhat reluctant to depict living creatures and to work with figurative motifs, primarily for religious reasons. Over the ages, many artists have accordingly concentrated on more abstract or stylized elements, and floral and vegetal motifs provided a suitably neutral subject. Art from the world of Islam exhibits an exuberant infatuation with decoration, used unreservedly and masterfully. Exhbition: David Collection, Copenhagen, Denmark (22.03.-27.10.2013).