Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last.

 John Ruskin

Throughout Iran’s long and brilliant history, crowded with vicissitudes, with foreign invasions, wars, conquests, triumphs and disasters, the foundation of Persian thought for creating artworks has not been spoiled by any means. Astonishingly, after a while invaders themselves were so strongly influenced by the art, artistic virtues and interests of Persians that their thought and deeds, underwent through transformation. Art is one of Persia’s greatest resources, her most characteristic and permanent contribution.

Persian art, tested by time and dominated through long epochs, matured slowly and developed its own specific canons. In terms of subject and manner, the range of Persian art is remarkably vast. Art fields including architecture, music, literature, pottery, weaving, have an outstanding story in this land.
Literature is the most stalwart expression of Iranians genius and its poetry shines at the most .Persians are poetic people, their literature inspired Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and many others. Without any exaggeration, Iranian poets have contributed to the richness of European literature.  Poets such as Sa’di, Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam are well known in the world and have influenced the literature of many countries.
Alongside poetry, classical music has a long history dating back to the Neolithic age. Musicians like Barbod were legendary in the empire of the Sassanid era. During the course of Iran’s recorded history, a unique distinctive music developed accompanied by numerous musical instruments, several of which came to be the first prototypes of some modern musical instruments of today.
Persian Carpet, The Beautiful Picture of Art in History is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished manifestations of this nation’s culture and art. The discovery of a Persian carpet in the village of Pazyrk in the Altai Mountains, in southern Siberia, shows that carpet weaving is probably as old as the Persian monarchy. The art of carpet weaving in Iran has its roots in the culture and customs of its people and their instinctive feelings. Carpet is also the best known Persian cultural export.
Persian architecture is unique and is considered to be the field with the greatest contribution to world’s culture. As Arthur Pope put it, “the meaningful Impact of Persian architecture is versatile. Not overwhelming but dignified, magnificent and impressive”. The ruins of Persepolis, Ctesiphon, Jiroft, Sialk, Pasargadae, and hundreds of other sites documented in only what today Iran is ,may give us only a distant glimpse of what contribution they made to the art of building. Taj Mahal is one of the impressive examples of Persian architecture outside of Iran. It is not surprising that Iran ranks among the top 10 nations with the most Architectural ruins from antiquity.
Pottery is perhaps the earliest and the most important invention made by man. For historians and archaeologists it holds a high significance of artistic value. The history of the art of pottery in Iran goes back into ancient time. When agriculture came into existence and cultivation started on Iran’s plateau by primitive races of this land, people exploited killed clay in order to meet their needs. Due to the special geographical position of the country, being at the crossroads of ancient civilizations and on important caravan routes, almost every part of Iran was, at times, involved in pottery making. Persia’s art has gained special recognition in some other key areas such as painting, miniature, calligraphy, metalworking, stone masonry and cinema.
Persian art, no matter to which historic era it belongs, reflects a desire and special morale of the people of Iran. It also symbolizes superiority in taste and creativity of Persian civilization.