METROPOLITAN MUSEUM PRESENTS ‘VENICE AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD’

AVV 5-10 #699699

NEW YORK CITY — The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents “Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797,” through July 8.

This exhibition examines the relationship between Venice and the Islamic world over a 1,000-year period, focusing on artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Near East and were channeled, absorbed and elaborated in Venice, a city that represented a commercial, political and diplomatic magnet on the shores of the Mediterranean.

The underlying theme of the exhibition explores the reasons why a large number of Venetian paintings, drawings, printed books and especially decorative artworks were influenced by and drew inspiration from the Islamic world and its art.

“Orientalism” in Venice was based on direct contact with the Islamic world, which brought about new technological, artistic and intellectual information. These Venetian objects are studied vis-à-vis works of Islamic art, providing an immediate, comparative visual reference.

A continuous thread through the exhibition deals with the works of Islamic art that entered Venetian collections in historical times and illuminates the nature of the artistic relationship between Venice and the Mamluks in Egypt, the Ottomans in Turkey and the Safavids in Iran.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is at 1000 Fifth Avenue. For information, 212-535-7710 or www.metmuseum.org.