{"id":7048948,"date":"2026-08-27T07:01:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/for-the-first-time-a-selection-of-islamic-masterpieces-from-the-louvre-is-coming-to-the-united-states-see-the-treasures-soon-to-be-displayed-at-the-smithsonians-national-museum-of-asian-art\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T07:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:01:45","slug":"for-the-first-time-a-selection-of-islamic-masterpieces-from-the-louvre-is-coming-to-the-united-states-see-the-treasures-soon-to-be-displayed-at-the-smithsonians-national-museum-of-asian-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7048948","title":{"rendered":"For the First Time, a Selection of Islamic Masterpieces From the Louvre Is Coming to the United States. See the Treasures Soon to Be Displayed at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Asian Art"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Twenty-six works spanning many centuries and regions will form the September exhibition titled \u201cFrom the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art\u201d<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Jess\n <\/div>\n
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Jess Daninhirsch<\/a><\/p>\n

| Reporting Intern, Museums<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Baptistery
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Baptistery of Saint Louis<\/em> basin,\u00a0copper alloy with engraving and inlay of silver, gold and black paste,\u00a0Egypt or Syria,\u00a0Mamluk period, ca. 1325-1340
\n \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn \/ Hughes Dubois<\/span>
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The latest exhibition at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Asian Art<\/a> is set to present 26 Islamic masterworks from the Louvre<\/a> in Paris. Opening on September 26 and on view through January 18, 2027, \u201cFrom the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art<\/a>\u201d will showcase objects spanning from the 7th century to the 19th century, crafted in locales as far west as Spain and as far east as India. The display marks the first time that these 26 masterpieces will be in the United States together.<\/p>\n

Curated by Simon Rettig<\/a> of the Asian Art museum and Souraya Noujaim<\/a> of the Louvre, the exhibition spotlights wide-ranging artifacts of the Islamic world, works made with bronze, wood, ceramics and other materials. Visitors will see the stunning 14th-century Syro-Egyptian Baptistery of Saint Louis basin<\/a>, and a circa 18th-century Mughal dagger made with Damascus steel, inlaid with gold and featuring a horse head handle. The basin is \u201can astonishing object, which is in pristine condition,\u201d Rettig, a curator of Islamic art at the museum, tells Smithsonian<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

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\"Dagger

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Dagger With Horse Head<\/em>, jade, rubies, emeralds and kundan gold; Damascus steel inlaid with gold,\u00a0Mughal India, ca. 1700<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Mus\u00e9e du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn \/ Hughes Dubois<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Vase

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Vase Inscribed With the Name of Sultan Salah al-Din Yusuf<\/em>, made by Dawud son of Salama al-Mawsili, Ayyubid period, 1237-1260<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Mus\u00e9e du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn \/ Hughes Dubois<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cObjects seldom are considered masterpieces when they are made originally,\u201d Rettig says. \u201cIt\u2019s through time that they become masterpieces or are acknowledged as a masterpiece, and that\u2019s especially in the present day. Now, it\u2019s the public, it\u2019s museums\u2019 visitors who make a work of art a masterpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Quick fact: A masterpiece gets a new home<\/p>\n

A new gallery<\/a> is being designed for Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s Mona Lisa<\/em>, the Louvre\u2019s most famous artwork. The 33,000 square-foot, custom-built exhibition space is expected to be complete in 2031.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The full histories behind many of the works is unknown. But this exhibition will encourage viewers to explore the journeys that these objects took before eventually being displayed at the museum.<\/p>\n

For example, Rettig notes, the Saint Louis basin<\/a> got its name from being associated with Louis IX<\/a>, and was used for French royal baptisms. However, that particular king was born more than a century before the basin was made. During the 18th century, the French created a \u201cforged identity\u201d for the basin as part of their culture, the curator says. It wasn\u2019t until the 20th century that the basin\u2019s Islamic roots were widely acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tells you that history is not linear,\u201d Rettig says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have a single identity, and that\u2019s what makes these objects and the others presented in the exhibition even more iconic and extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Aquamanile

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Aquamanile Peacock<\/em>, bronze cast and chiseled, Al-Andalus Spain, probably Cordoba, Umayyad period, 972<\/p>\n

\u00a9 GrandPalaisRmn (Mus\u00e9e du Louvre) \/ Mathieu Rabeau<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The museum has a long history of collaboration with the Louvre thanks to its founder, Charles Lang Freer<\/a>, who befriended French curator Gaston Migeon<\/a>. In 1903, Freer visited a landmark Islamic art exhibition in Paris that Migeon had organized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was very transformative for Freer,\u201d Rettig says. \u201cThat\u2019s when he started acquiring Islamic art.\u201d In 1906, he donated his art collection to the nation, and the Freer Gallery of Art<\/a>, which now partly forms the National Museum of Asian Art, opened to the public in 1923.<\/p>\n

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\"Jade

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Jade Cup With Rubies and Gold<\/em>,\u00a0Turkey, Ottoman period, ca. 1550-1600<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Mus\u00e9e du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn \/ Rapha\u00ebl Chipault<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The museum displayed Islamic artworks upon its opening, and all of those pieces \u201ctell their own stories,\u201d Rettig says. Witnessing the Louvre works in this new exhibition, he notes, will allow visitors to learn \u201cwhat makes a masterpiece a masterpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n

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