Some Considerations on the Depictions of the Prophet Muḥammad in Western Christian Manuscripts

12th-16th Century

Abstract

The illustrations in medieval manuscripts provide the first graphic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in the Christian West. Between the late twelfth and the early sixteenth century we find a remarkable variety of cartoons, portraits and scenes from the biography of Muhammad in historical and encyclopedic works, in travel books to Oriental lands and in poetic texts, more rarely in doctrinal writings. In this paper we present an overview of this rich imagery, establishing the main types and briefly discussing their relationship with the different discourses that medieval Christian ideology drawn on the figure of the Prophet.