Liotard`s fine portraits of Westerners in Turkish dress, Carpaccio`s turbanned figures & the coveted ` Turkey` carpets that appear in paintings by Lotto & Holbein bear witness to a deep Western fascination with all things Ottoman. It is this cultural influence, spanning five hundred years
- from the fall of Constantinople through to the twentieth century
- that unites the wealth of paintings, drawing, photographs & decorative objects in this sumptuously illustrated book. The result is a visual feast of Turkish delights, from the exotic allure of the harem & Turkish baths to Ottoman-inspired Western interiors & pavilions; from paintings of Europeans in gorgeous Turkish costume to carpets, silks, tulips, turbans, Iznik tiles, coffee, tobacco, croissants... The delightfully informative text explains how Turkey, the gateway to the East, became a fountain of inspiration for so many artistic & cultural fields
- painting, ceramics, textiles, interiors, fashion
- in the West. Today the many fruits of this cultural meeting, enticingly displayed in this book, will engage a fresh audience with the decorative possibilities of the ravishing colours, motifs & furnishings of traditional Turkey.