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Lotto Carpet

17th century
Not on view
The palette and design of this carpet recalls the famous "Lotto" carpets, named after a well-known altarpiece by Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, that depicts a piece with a striking field pattern of geometrically stylized vegetal arabesques in yellow on a red ground. While the earliest examples of carpets using this design probably date from before 1500, the design remained popular for several centuries, and large numbers were exported to Europe they frequently appeared in paintings. The pattern of this carpet is designed around the motif of a stylized peony blossom repeated in a linear movement in both the field and the border. While the floral style of this Lotto carpet points to a seventeenth century dating, the fine lines dividing the center field in three parts and converging at one end to form a triangle, recall the niche design of Anatolian prayer rugs, in which the mihrab or prayer-niche remained a popular motif.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lotto Carpet
  • Date: 17th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Turkey
  • Medium: Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
  • Dimensions: Textile: L. 62 in. (157.5 cm)
    W. 43 3/4 in. (111.1 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Rugs
  • Credit Line: The James F. Ballard Collection, Gift of James F. Ballard, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.100.113
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Ushak Medallion Carpet on White Ground, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
Ushak Medallion Carpet on White Ground
first half 17th century
'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
'Transylvanian' Carpet
17th century
'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
'Transylvanian' Carpet
probably 17th century
'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
'Transylvanian' Carpet
probably 18th century
Prayer Rug with Triple Arch Design, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
Prayer Rug with Triple Arch Design
probably late 18th century

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