'Lotto' Carpet

16th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 459

Carpets displaying this striking design of stylized vegetal arabesques in yellow on a red ground are often called "Lotto" carpets after a famous altarpiece by Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto that depicts a similar carpet. Early examples of Lotto carpets exhibit borders like the one seen here. Thought to derive from a rectilinear form of Arabic script known as kufic, this type of interlaced border is characteristic of many early Turkish carpets.

Related link:

Link to Discover Carpet Art Website

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: 'Lotto' Carpet
Date: 16th century
Geography: Attributed to Turkey
Medium: Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
Dimensions: Rug: L. 85 1/2 in. (217.2 cm)
W. 51 1/4 in. (130.2 cm)
Wt. 19 lbs. (8.6 kg) with cradle
Classification: Textiles-Rugs
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1908
Object Number: 08.167.1
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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The Emperor's Carpet, Silk (warp and weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile — The Emperor's Carpet
second half 16th century

'Holbein' Carpet, Wool; symmetrically (?) knotted pile — 'Holbein' Carpet
15th–16th century

'Star Ushak' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile — 'Star Ushak' Carpet
late 15th century

Textile with Large Chintamani Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; lampas (kemha) — Textile with Large Chintamani Design
16th century

Textile Fragment, Silk, metal wrapped thread; lampas (kemha) — Textile Fragment
mid-16th century

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