Her fussily pretentious dress and jewelry suggest Moretto's lady may have lived in the provincial Veneto. But like the urban rich, she was the proud owner of a fine Turkish carpet. Small rectangular and square "table carpets" were particularly prized. Shown here is the top of what has come to be called a prayer rug. The pointed arch, with a lamp's chain suspended in the center, refers to a mihrab, the niche in a mosque wall that orients prayer toward Mecca. Renaissance inventories describe them as "mosque carpets." Their size made them practical in both cultures. Muslims carried them to prayer, and Italians displayed them on furniture.

Compare the prayer rug in Moretto's painting with a prayer rug from Turkey.

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