The iconography of chess and checkered surfaces has influenced art through the ages. Especially after 1000, when checkered surfaces also became connected to the chessboard. Chess became a source of inspiration in the arts in literature soon after the spread of the game to the Arab World and Europe in the Middle Ages. The earliest works of art centered on the game are miniatures in medieval manuscripts, as well as poems, which were often created with the purpose of describing the rules. After chess gained popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries, many works of art related to the game were created.