Adam Loutfi
FA -1402

The museum that I visited is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit I visited is the Interwoven Globe The Worldwide Textile Trade 1500-1800. This exhibit shows the growth of design in the early nineteenth century. The exhibit consisted of woven artifacts, mostly rugs, which showed stories in ancient history. In a way it was like the new generation of cave paintings on rugs. This exhibit has 134 works of art. The works of art chosen are pieces from all over the world. Some of the works in the exhibit include American art, Asian art, Islamic art, European Sculptures and arts. Also, it included the Costume institute, European paintings, drawings and prints, arts of Africa, oceania and the Americas. A majority of the art in the exhibit includes flat textiles. The pieces in the exhibit ranged from very large to very small. The exhibit was set up in the way where the largest rugs where shown in the beginning. The Interwoven exhibit was not all rugs, it also shown dresses, costumes, curtains, bedcovers and fabrics. It showed different types of furniture from countries all over the world. One particular part of the exhibit showed a living room setting from the early nineteenth century. While I was there, I did not get to notice if there was wall tags that directed me through the exhibit. What I did understand, is that each of the woven works of art showed a different type of progression in the art world throughout each of the nations. One of the most memorable works of art in the Interwoven Globe exhibit was “The Abduction of Helen, from a Set of The Story of Troy.” This work of art was memorable because it was one of the largest rugs shown inside of the gallery. This rug stretched out to 142 inches by 189 inches. This woven piece of art was created by the Chinese, as a contribution to the Portuguese market. This woven piece was made sometime in the first half of the 17th century. This piece made it to the Interwoven Globe exhibit because it was given as a gift to Louis E. Seley in 1979. This rug shows a commotion going on in the setting. It includes a lot of people all on top of each other, making a large crowd. In the background, there is a detailed 3 dimensional building that looks like it can be a church of some sort. This is strange because the rest of the rug shows 2 dimensional characters. It looks like they are all fighting over the abduction of Helen. To me, I believe that Helen is the woman in the center of the picture, reaching out towards the sky. This rug portrays that the Asian art world has taken ideas and art styles from the Europeans. The border of this rug is personally my favorite part because it shows such great detail and design. Another work of art that stood out to me in the exhibit is the “Cope.” This rug was made in the early 17th century. This rug was made in Bengal, India. The material is cotton, and tasar and muga silk. This rug is 81 inches by 39.5 inches. This work of art was a gift of Lily S. Place in 1923. This rug is a tan semi-circle, with a pattern of different types of animals that may have been around in India. It shows animals such as deer, tigers, elephants and horses. On the elephants and horses, it shows people riding on top of them with spears. You can tell by this piece of Indian art that at this time period hunting was a major part of life. The way this rug was set up inside of the exhibit was significant because it was one of the few that were shown on a stand, allowing the rug to stretch out horizontally like a table. It allowed me to look into it in greater detail. The work of art in the Interwoven Globe exhibit that definitely stood out the most out of all of them is the “Dress, (Robe a la Française).” This artwork showed a very detailed golden dress, displayed on a headless model. The dress looked like it was a very elegant style of clothing for the time period. It looks like it was made for a certain type of figure of royalty. This dress was made in