Image: Artistic Exchange: Europe and the Islamic World

Footed bowl Turkey (Ottoman), probably Iznik late 15th – 16th century Fritware with underglaze colors Victoria and Albert Museum, London Bequest of George Salting

 

Prayer rug, Ushak region, Turkey
late 15th – 16th century
wool pile on wool foundation
Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
© Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY

Most prayer rugs measure about one by one-and-one-half meters. The arched design also suggests a doorway, through which the righteous believer enters Paradise. In Italian Renaissance inventories, they are called "mosque carpets."