Exhibit at Smithsonian captures art of the Qur’an
Islam prohibits the depiction of God or prophets, and some Muslims believe drawing any animate being is also forbidden. Certainly no such images appear in the Qur’an, its central holy book.
So there are no pictures in the first major exhibit of Qur’ans in the United States, The Art of the Qur’an, at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on the National Mall until February 20. But the more than 60 Qur’ans on display present a visually stunning tour of more than 1,000 years of Islamic history, told through the calligraphy and ornamentation that grace the sacred folios.