Works of art made for Islamic patrons dominate the Johnson Museum’s small collection of art from West and Central Asia. Certain features unify Islamic art, despite the many distinctive cultures that left their imprint upon it since the advent of Islam in the seventh century. Foremost is calligraphy, particularly Arabic script, because of the centrality of the Qur’an to Islamic culture. Calligraphic motifs, whether based on actual or pseudo writing, appear as ornament in all the arts, from architecture to book and decorative arts. The ubiquity of interlaced and repeating patterns, such as the arabesque, in the visual arts echoes the importance of mathematics, astronomy, and music within the Islamic world. Whether purely geometric or based on botanical motifs, such continuous designs celebrate the unity and immensity of God as reflected in the order of the universe. Figurative decoration plays a subordinate role in Islamic art, since, to eliminate any chance of idolatry, it is avoided within the context of mosque architecture and the making of Qur’ans. No restriction against the depiction of humans and animals exists, however, in the production of secular architecture, illustrated literature and histories, or in decorative arts.