Europe and the Islamic World

Prints, Drawings, and Books. In conjunction with the special exhibition Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797, a selection of works on paper drawn from the museum’s permanent collection explores the related theme of Europe’s fascination with the peoples, costume, design and customs of Muslim lands. From Albrecht Dürer’s 15th-century engraving of a Turkish family to the sketches drawn by Eugène Delacroix during his visit to Morocco in 1832, the images produced by artists fed the public’s curiosity about a culture they both feared and admired—and often imitated. Visual records of diplomatic missions as well as documents of the influence of Islamic traditions on European dress and architecture are featured. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, through June 24.