Carpets & Rugs

Extant 15th-17th century carpets, as well as depictions of carpets in 14th, 15th, and 16th century artwork.

See also Oriental Rugs & Carpets in Medieval European Paintings, Turkish Rugs In European Paintings, Circa 1440’s Flickr photostream and more links on pre-17th century rugs and carpets.

If you are interested in embroidering a carpet, read Portuguese Needlework Rugs, also called Arraiolos Carpets; a discussion of the manufacture of a carpet embroidered for the Australian SCA can be found at The Royal Carpet.

• Small Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1335-1340
• The Allegory of the Good Government (detail) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1338-1340
• Madonna and Child by Lippo Memmi, 1340s
• Carpets used as bench-coverings in Guiron le Courtois (BNF NAF 5243), c. 1370-1380: Arthur and Bedevere play chess (fol. 3v), Arthur and the messenger of Gaunnes (fol. 6r), Brunor of Estrangor and Lac of the Black Isles (fol. 70r), and Meliadus and his host (fol. 73v)
• The Lucca Madonna by Jan van Eyck, c. 1430
• Detail from The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, 1434
• Suckling Madonna Enthroned by Jan van Eyck, c. 1436
• The Madonna with Canon van der Paele (detail) by Jan van Eyck, 1436
• Small Triptych by Jan van Eyck, c. 1437
• Center panel of Triptych of Mary and Child, St. Michael, and St. Catherine by Jan van Eyck, 1437
• Detail from The Rearing and Marriage of Female Foundlings by Domenico di Bartolo, 1440-1442
• The Marriage of the Virgin by Sano di Pietro, c. 1448 (detail)
• The dubbing of William II of Holland, Chronografia (BNF Fr. 9002, fol. 94), mid-15th century
• An interesting heraldic carpet in the presentation scene, La geste ou histore du noble roy Alixandre, roy de Macedonne (BNF Fr. 9342, fol. 5r), mid-15th century
• The Martyrdom of St. Christopher by Andrea Mantegna, c. 1452
• Madonna and Child with Saints by Alessio Baldovinetti, 1454
• Central panel of The San Zeno Polyptych, 1457-1460
• The Continence of Scipio from the workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni, c. 1463
• The Annunciation by Hans Memling, c. 1465-1475; the heraldry on the carpet (like the window) features the Clugny family coat of arms
• Obsecro Te, the Hours of Etienne Chevalier (Musée Condé 71, fol. 5r)
• Philip the Good gives directions to David Aubert, History of Olivier de Castille (BNF Fr. 12574, fol. 1), c. 1468-1470
• Detail from the handwashing of Pilate from the Schottenaltar, c. 1469-1480
• The Court of Gonzaga by Andrea Mantegna, 1471-74
• Montefeltro Altarpiece by Piero della Francesca, 1472-1474
• The Virgin and Child with St. George and a Donor by Hans Memling, c. 1474-1479
• Madonna with Sts John the Baptist and Donatus by Andrea del Verrocchio, 1475-1483
• The Virgin and Child Enthroned by Gentile Bellini, c. 1475-1485
• St. Sebastian by Antonello da Messina, 1476-77
• The Donne Triptych (center panel) by Hans Memling, c. 1478
• Detail from Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints by Domenico Ghirlandaio, c. 1479
• Triptych with the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine by Hans Memling, 1479
• Madonna and Child with Angels by Hans Memling, after 1479
• Madonna and Child with Angels by Hans Memling, c. 1480
• St. Jerome in his Study by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1480 (this webpage notes that it seems to be the same carpet as his Madonna and Child Enthroned, below)
• Virgin Enthroned with Child and Angel by Hans Memling, 1480
• The Virgin, Child, and St. Anne by Hans Memling
• Confirmation of the Rule of the Order of St. Francis by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1482-85
• Detail from Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1483 (see also Domenico Ghirlandaio and his Rugs)
• Detail from the Unicorn Tapestry of The Sense of Hearing, c. 1484-1500
• Portrait of a Young Man by Hans Memling, 1485-90
• Detail from The Virgin of Jacques Floreins by Hans Memling, c. 1485-1490
• Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Angels by Hans Memling, 1485-90
• The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius (detail) by Carlo Crivelli, 1486
• Madonna and Child enthroned between Angels and Saints by Domenico Ghirlandaio, c. 1486
• Pietà by Carlo Crivelli, c. 1488
• The Virgin and Child between St. James and St. Dominic by Hans Memling, c. 1488-1490
• Flower Still-Life by Hans Memling, 1490
• The Sacred Conversation by Tommaso di Piero, c. 1490-1500
• A diptych with two members of the shoemakers' guild as donors, Aert van den Bossche, c. 1491-1500
• The Sedano Family Triptych by Gerard David, c. 1495
• Meeting of the Betrothed Couple and the Departure of the Pilgrims by Vittore Carpaccio, 1495 (with good details here and here)
• Manuscript miniature of King David, workshop of Girolamo dai Libri, c. 1495
• Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Four Angels by Quinten Massys, c. 1495
• The Mass of St. Giles, c. 1500
• Detail from Virgin and Child Enthroned With Two Angels by Vittore Crivelli, c. 1501
• Annunciation by Pedro de Berruguete
• Birth of the Virgin by Vittore Carpaccio, 1504-1508
• Madonna and Child with Sts Peter, Christine, Liberale, and Jerome by Lorenzo Lotto, 1505
• The Baptism of the Selenites by Vittore Carpaccio, 1507
• Annunciation by Andrea Previtali, c. 1508 (detail)
• Portrait of Ferry Carondelet and his Secretaries by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1510-1512 (detail)
• Naked Young Woman in Front of the Mirror by Giovanni Bellini, 1515
• Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1516 (detail)
• Portrait of a man by Moretto da Brescia, c. 1520-1525
• Santo Spirito Altarpiece by Lorenzo Lotto, 1521
• The Holy Family by Bernard van Orley, 1522
• Portrait of a married couple by Lorenzo Lotto, 1523
• A Family Group by Bernardino Licinio, 1524
• Portrait of Laura Pisani, circle of Dosso Dossi, 1525
• Detail from Susanna in the Bath by Albrecht Altdorfer, 1526
• Virgin and Child by Jan Provost
• Darmstadt Madonna by Hans Holbein the Younger, late 1520's (detail, commentary)
• Portrait of a young man by Fiorentino Rosso, c. 1529
• Portrait of the Merchant Georg Gisze by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532 (detail)
• Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve (The Ambassadors) by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533 (detail 1 and detail 2)
• The Presentation of the Ring by Paris Bordone, 1534
• Portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger, after 1537
• Portrait of Henry VIII, c. 1537-1557
• Supper at Emmaus by Jacopo Bassano, 1538
• Portrait of a Lady in White by Moretto da Brescia, c. 1540
• Dives and Lazarus by Bonifacio Veronese, 1540s
• The Alms of St. Anthony by Lorenzo Lotto, 1542
• Portrait of an unknown couple by Lorenzo Lotto, c. 1543
• Daughters of the House of Martinengo by Moretto da Brescia, c. 1543
• Portrait of Archbishop Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke, 1545-46
• Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children by Lorenzo Lotto, 1547
• Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1547
• Portrait of a young woman, c. 1550
Off Turquie Tapeis for the flure •

Item twa auld tapeis of Turquie worne away

Item xxiiij Turkie tapeis ſum great ſum litle
Part worne and part tint in 1565 and 66.

Inuentaires de la Royne Descosse
Douairiere de France, 1561

• The Welbeck (Wanstead) Portrait (Queen Elizabeth I) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, c. 1585
• Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1592
• The Last Supper by Otto van Veen, 1592
• Portrait of a lady (probably Catherine Carey, Countess of Nottingham), c. 1595-1605
• Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (The Hardwick Hall Portrait, c. 1599
• The Last Supper by Ambrosius Francken
• The Lute Player by Caravaggio, 1600
• Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, 1601-1602
• The Somerset House Conference, 1604
• Portrait of Princess Elizabeth by Robert Peake the Elder, c. 1606
• Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, 1606
• Portrait of Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset by William Larkin, c. 1613
• Portrait of Lady Diana Cecil by William Larkin, c. 1614-18
• Portrait of a baby, said to be Lady Waugh by William Larkin, c. 1615
• Portrait of Philip Herbert, Fourth Earl of Pembroke by William Larkin, c. 1615
• Portrait of Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset by Isaac Oliver, 1616
• Portrait of Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset by William Larkin, 1616
• The Annunciation by Ludovicus Finsonius
• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Jan Brueghel the Younger and Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1628

Early Examples of Offset Knotting includes photos and descriptions of several rugs from the 13th-16th centuries. Elsewhere on the same website are instructions for a simple frame loom for making carpets.

Some more extant carpets:

• Detail of knotted pile wool rug, Turkey, early 14th century
• Detail of knotted pile wool rug, Turkey, early 14th century
• Detail of knotted pile wool rug, Turkey, early 14th century
• Admiral Heraldic Carpet (Philadelphia 1955-65-21) with the heraldry of Fadrique Enriquez de Mendoza (c. 1429-1473)
• Carpet (Met 53.79), first half of 15th century, Spain
• Three star Holbein carpet, Turkey, c. 1400-1450
• Small-pattern Holbein carpet (MFA 39.614), Spanish (Mudejar), Spain, (Probably Alcaraz), 15th century
• Silk-velvet carpet, Turkey, 15th century
• Silk carpet with gold threads, Ottoman, 15th-16th century
• Prayer rug, Ushak region, Turkey; late 15th-16th century
• A 'Small Pattern Holbein' rug, first half of the 16th century
• Animal carpet (DIA 25.23), Iran, c. 1520-1570
• Ardabil carpet (LACMA 53.50.2), Iran, 1539-40
• The Ardabil carpet (V&A 272-1893), Iran, 1539-40
• Carpets from 16th century Iran: V&A 326-1894; 23-1883; 670-1896; T.267-1959; and 579-1884
• Carpet with animal decorations and central medallion, Iran, 16th century
• Portion of a carpet (DIA 29.233.A), 16th century
• 'Small-pattern Holbein' carpet, Anatolia, 16th century
• Holbein carpet with small motifs, Anatolia (Ushak region), 16th century
• Holbein carpet with large motifs, Turkey, 16th century
• Prayer-carpet, Turkey, 16th century
• Knotted pile wool rug fragment, Turkey, 16th century
• Knotted pile wool rug fragment, Turkey, 16th century
• "Lotto" rug, Ushak region, Turkey, 16th century (also herea>)
• Fragment of a large pattern Holbein carpet, Anatolia, 16th century
• Table carpet made in Egypt or Turkey in the mid-16th century
• Carpet, Turkey, 1550-1600
• Portion of a carpet with fantastic animals on a red ground (DIA 31.64), India, c. 1580-1585
• The Mantes carpet (corner detail), northwestern Iran, late 16th century
• Kilim carpet with scenes from legends, late 16th-early 17th century
• Carpet, Iran, 1580-1640
• Carpet fragment, Iran, 16th or 17th century
• Carpet, Iran, 1500-1650
• Carpets from 16th-17th century Turkey: V&A 904-1897; T.29-1956; T.348-1920
• Medallion and Animal Carpet, probably Isfahan, c. 1600
• Floral carpet (DIA 29.242), India, c. 1610-1625
• The James A. Lucas "Ghirlandaio" Bergama Rug, made in West Anatolia in the 17th century
• Knotted pile wool rug (with detail), Turkey, 17th century
• Knotted pile wool rug, Turkey, 17th century
• Knotted pile wool rug, Turkey, 17th century
• "Holbein" rug, possibly made in Wallachia, Romania or central Anatolia, Turkey, 17th century
• "Bird" rugs made in 17th century Wallachia (Philadelphia 1955-65-11 and 1955-65-12)
• Portion of a lattice carpet (DIA 25.1), India, c. 1650