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With the spread of Islamic civilization which rested on Islamic philosophy and divine teachings of Quran, time was ripe for formation of Islamic Art taking shape from socio-political and economic conditions in Muslim lands. Striking similarities between patterns of Islamic and Pre-Islamic periods well attest to the new life of the predecessors’ arts in new environments, though full grasping some beauties of the Islamic art with their occult and symbolic meanings necessitates acquaintance with Islamic world view. The advent of Islam in Iran, like other lands formed a new rich Muslim art and culture, based on predecessors’ arts, particularly the Sassanid Empire. Thus we are witnessing the huge collection of Islamic art in National Museum of Iran. Since foundation of the museum by André Godard the fourth floor was dedicated to the Islamic Period. This department began its work with 2400 artifacts in various fields, particularly researching Islamic arts, paving the way for exhibition of invaluable Islamic artifacts on the second floor of Irân-e Bâstân Museum. At this time the western hall of the southern wing, named “Talar-e Ganjineh”, was dedicated to exhibiting gold and silver artifacts, while the eastern hall, named “Talar-e Ardabil”, puts on show china wares from Sheikh Safi Mausoleum.
In the early years of the Islamic Revolution this same hall was used as Quran Gallery too. With constant increment in number of artifacts and further expansion of this department activities the need for more space was exceedingly felt. Thus the then museum authorities decided to use the building adjacent to Irân-e Bâstân Museum as “Museum of the Islamic period”, though it was previously used for art and anthropological exhibitions, and holding seminars. Renovation work began in 1368 and the building was prepared for Museum of the Islamic Period, inaugurated on the second day of Aban, 1375 by the then President. Built in three floors, the second and third floors were assigned to representing various Islamic art objects according to topic and period, exhibiting a wide spectrum of Islamic artifacts. Presently this museum is undergoing yet another renovation to expand some spaces and revise exhibition methods. Now the Islamic Department houses more than 10,000 Islamic monuments and is one of the most important research centers on Islamic Art, seriously engaged in collaborative projects with academic and educational centers both at home and abroad, constantly providing expert advice and counseling services to interested students and researchers in various fields of the Islamic Arts. Furthermore individual and collaborative measures are taken to better introduce the artifacts in exhibitions regularly held at national and international levels.
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