NEW YORK - Fifteen renovated galleries offer fresh perspective on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of more than 12,000 Islamic works of art spanning 13 centuries and an area ranging from Spain to India.
About 1,200 pieces of art will be on view at any one time with displays of textiles and works on paper changing frequently due to the sensitivity of these materials to light.
A re-thinking of the Islamic art collection, developed alongside the museum’s years-long renovation project, led to the new galleries being named to reflect the range of nations and empires that produced the art.
While the collection was once succinctly termed Islamic Art, the museum now describes the works inhabiting the galleries as “Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia.”
The new emphasis on geography grew out of the view that while religion unifies the collection, region diversifies it.
