Liotard’s fine portraits of Westerners in Turkish dress, Carpaccio’s turbaned figures, and the coveted “Turkey” carpets that appear in paintings by Lotto and 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, drawings, photography, and decorative objects in this sumptuously illustrated book.
The result is a visual feast of Turkish delights, from the exotic allure of the harem and Turkish baths to Ottoman-inspired Western interiors and pavilions; from paintings of Europeans in Turkish costume to carpets, silks, tulips, turbans, Iznik tiles, coffee, tobacco, and croissants.