Spotlight: Spanish Holbein Carpet

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Small-Pattern Holbein Carpet
Spain, probably Alcaraz, 15th century

Wool pile on wool foundation, single-warp symmetrical knot

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 39.614.

Photograph © 2026 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

This spotlight loan presents a woven masterpiece from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, home to one of North America’s oldest and most renowned collections of Islamic art.

This carpet belongs to the celebrated group of weavings known as “Holbein” carpets, named for their appearance in paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger (ca. 1497–1543), and other European artists. Originally produced in western Anatolia (present-day Türkiye) and traded widely across Europe, carpets of this type inspired local adaptations beyond their place of origin. This exceptional example was made in southeast Spain, where Muslim weavers adapted eastern Mediterranean designs to local traditions, continuing their craft even after the region came under Christian rule in the thirteenth century.