Carpet

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Even as the Christian kingdoms of Spain, led by Castile and Aragon, drove Muslimrulers from the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish elite acquired a taste for the refined products of Muslim craftsmen, including splendid carpets. Rare surviving 15th-century examples, like this one, repeat small geometric shapes in their central field, sometimes also incorporating the coats of arms of their noble owners. Often of great size—this one is almost 18 feet in length—such carpets softened and enlivened the floors of palaces. Many survived as donations to Spanish convents, entering the art market and private collections around 1900.

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