Opening tomorrow in Washington: “From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art” — 26 Louvre masterpieces shown together in the U.S. for the first time

On Saturday, September 26, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington opens the exhibition “From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art” — an unusual event for the museum world: for the first time, 26 masterpieces from the Louvre’s Islamic art department are shown together in the United States. Washington will be the exhibition’s only American stop, and it stays open through January 18, 2027.

The objects span twelve centuries of history — from the 7th to the 19th century — and a geographical space stretching from Umayyad Spain to Mughal India. Among them are carved rosewood doors, a jade cup, an Andalusian bronze lion, a monumental jewel-encrusted portrait of the Persian king Fath-Ali Shah Qajar and works of the Ottoman Empire. The star of the exhibition is the famous “Baptismal Basin of Saint Louis” — a copper basin cast in Syria or Egypt around 1325–1340, in the time of the Mamluk dynasty, decorated with gold and silver inlays of human and animal figures and signed by the master Muhammad ibn al-Zayn.

Next to it is exhibited the 17th-century Mughal dagger with a horse-head jade hilt, decorated with rubies, emeralds and gold; as well as a vase with the inscription of the Ayyubid sultan Salah al-Din Yusuf (1237–1260). Curator Simon Rettig of the Asian Museum and his Louvre co-curator Souraya Noujaim have built the exhibition as a narrative of these objects’ travels: many of them passed through the hands of sultans, princes and nobles, were given as diplomatic gifts to strengthen alliances and gained new meanings as they moved between cultures.

“Coveted for their spectacular craftsmanship and exceptional artistry, these objects of the Islamic world were enjoyed by a select few, until they entered the Louvre,” said Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art. “Now, these once-exclusive objects are accessible to all as masterpieces.” The exhibition also places the Louvre’s collection in dialogue with the Smithsonian’s own holdings of Islamic art.

Entry to Smithsonian museums is free — visitors have the exhibition included in their regular visit.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine