Spanish Carpet with a Turkish Pattern

Muslim weavers in Spain manufactured colorful woolen carpets with patterns derived from native Iberian designs, luxury silks, and imported Turkish carpets, such as this rare example. It is the only known carpet with this pattern of octagons framing a radiating central star. It is related to so-called large-pattern Holbein carpets, named after the Flemish painter Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) who represented them in his paintings. This relatively well preserved 15th-century carpet is said to have come from a convent in Spain.