The Pride of the Orient; A new exhibit in Paris explores the fruitful but little-known artistic interchange between Venice and the Islamic world.

Byline: Amber Haq

As an ancient naval power, bustling cultural capital and center of European trade, Venice has long held the world in thrall with its beauty and heritage. And yet one aspect of its history has often been understated: its connections to Islam. "The city has always been associated with the Orient through its link to Byzantium," says Stefano Carboni, a Venetian-born Islamic-art expert at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. "In fact, the city had a very direct and pragmatic contact with the Islamic world which led to an exchange of knowledge and thought that was mutually beneficial." "Venice and the Orient, 828--1797" a new exhibit at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris (through Feb. 18), and Carboni's brainchild, tells the fascinating story of that exchange.

The show, a collaboration between the IMA and the Met (where it travels next March), presents some 200 objects borrowed from 68 different collections to illustrate Venice's links with three Oriental dynasties: the Mamelukes of Egypt, the Safavids of Persia and Turkey's Ottomans. From the exquisite ceramics decorated with traditional Ottoman blue-and-white floral motifs to the sumptuous silk carpets from Anatolia and rich gold and silver-threaded textiles made in Venice, the exhibit vividly depicts how the city's contact with the Islamic world catalyzed intellectual, esthetic and technological changes. Visitors can see the similarities between the bright colors and geometric motifs of 12th-century Mameluke glass lamps and the pitchers and goblets created a century later in the Lagoon of Venice. In fact, Venetian artisans were so successful at appropriating Mameluke designs that by the 1500s the dignitaries of the Ottoman Empire were ordering all their glassware exclusively from Venice. "Glass provides a fascinating example of the transmission of artistry and technique over the centuries," says Aurelie Clemente-Ruiz, co-curator of the exhibition.

The show also makes clear how much Venice owed its power to its geographic location. As the main point of arrival on the spice routes that began in and beyond ...