Venice
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gateway of Persian carpets in Europe
Commercial relations with the Safavid Empire
The Republic of Venice cultivated strategic alliances with Safavid Persia as early as the 15th century as a counterweight to Ottoman expansion. Thanks to diplomatic missions and trade agreements, Venice became the main importer of Persian carpets, as well as spices and fine fabrics. This connection resulted in a continuous flow of Eastern goods: "thanks to trade, large quantities of objects, manuscripts, fabrics, and Persian carpets passed through Venice or remained there." Moreover, Venetian material culture assimilated many Persian techniques during this period, and the fashion for Safavid carpets became so widespread that these textiles "became a symbol of prestige in Venetian patrician homes." In exhibitions and in the residences of wealthy Venetian merchants, precious silk carpets were never lacking, often gifts from the Safavid rulers. For the Venetian government, these exchanges were also a means of cultural diplomacy: the Doges received sumptuous carpets as gifts from the Persian court, destined for the Basilica of San Marco or for State ceremonies.
Import and market in Venice
Persian carpets arrived by land and by sea in western Italy, often passing through friendly ports (for example Alexandria or the Red Sea) or via Armenian and Greek intermediaries. In Venice, numerous merchants specialized in importing these textiles: the warehouses of the Fondaco dei Persiani, on the Grand Canal, were the heart of this trade. Who bought Safavid carpets? They were mainly the elites: noble Venetian families and patricians enriched their salons with oriental carpets, used as precious table covers or luxury floor rugs. The doges themselves and the State made extensive use of them. Shah Abbas the Great sent the doge and the basilica of San Marco silk and silver-thread carpets of great value, which were draped in front of the high altar during sacred festivities or used as ceremonial bedspreads. The same source recalls that those carpets were laid on the ground or under the doge's bier during funeral processions. It is therefore not surprising that San Marco still preserves some of these artifacts today: ancient Persian carpets once used to honor the patron saint of Venice.
Persian carpets in Renaissance paintings
The actual presence of oriental carpets in Venice also left a mark on art. Venetian Renaissance painters depicted them as elements of luxury and sacredness. Lorenzo Lotto, for example, painted in 1547 a Family Portrait (Giovanni della Volta with wife and children) in which "a little girl is seated on a table covered by a precious carpet." That carpet—with yellow arabesques on a red background and borders with Kufic signs—reappears in various other works by Lotto himself. Vittore Carpaccio, on the other hand, immortalized Persian carpets as ceremonial decorations: we see examples hanging from the railings of boats in the Departure of Saint Ursula from Venice (1507). Other great Venetian altarpieces also show oriental carpets used as sacred table covers or adorning the steps of the altar, a sign of precious ornamentation in places of worship.
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