October 19, 2019 Rosamund Mack The Mystery of Cairo's Magnificent Mamluk Carpets Some pictures click on the thumbnail for the full picture. During the 1480s, large new carpets arrived in Granada, Jerusalem, and the Vatican. Contemporary Arab and Italian observers considered these carpets unique and more spectacular than any seen before. Their origins and early history have long been mysterious and controversial. Documents and patronage history now establish the place and date of manufacture, and circumstances of export. The ‘Generalife’ carpet at the Alhambra, and the Bardini-Textile Museum blazon carpet illustrate the novelties, and features that will endure as well as others which soon disappear. Other mysteries remain. Rosamond E. Mack is a local art historian best known for her book Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art 1300-1600 (2001). return to home page