Russia Engages the World

This checklist is a record of the items, in order and by section, on view in the exhibition Russia Engages the World, 1453–1825 (October 3, 2003–January 31, 2004).

The World: Engaging the Muslim Empires

Russia and the West Interact

The World: Engaging the Muslim Empires

Although Russia's encounters with the Muslim world were primarily diplomatic or military, items in this section also reflect commercial and cultural interactions and Russians' continuing romantic fascination with the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and India.

The Splendor of Persia's Isfahan
Reproduction from:
John Ogilby (1600–1676)
Asia, the first part. Being an accurate description of Persia. The Vast Empire of the Great Mogol
London: the author, 1673
NYPL, General Research Division

Mapping Muslim Kingdoms
Joan Blaeu (1596–1673)
Grooten atlas, oft Werelt beschryving [The Great Atlas, or, A Description of the World] Amsterdam, 1648–64
NYPL, Map Division

The Turkic Foes Rewarded
Peter I, Tsar and Emperor of Russia (1672–1725), and Ivan V, Tsar of Russia (1666–1696)
Royal property charter granted for service in the war with the Turkish Sultan and the Crimean Khan
Printed and manuscript document, with Safavid Persian silk textile cover
Moscow, 1686
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

A Turkic Stronghold Seized
Moscowitische Belagerung und Eroberung der Haupt Stadt Asoff im Tartarischen Königreich Nagaja am Fluss Tänais oder Don [The Muscovite Siege and Conquest of the City of Azov, Part of the Tatar Kingdom Nogai on the Tanais or Don River]
N.p., 1696
NYPL, Map Division

A Sultan Captures the European Imagination
Prospero Bonarelli (1580–1659)
Il Solimano [Süleyman]
Florence: P. Cecconelli, 1620
NYPL, Spencer Collection

Islam Studied in Russia
Dimitrie Cantemir (Kantemir), Voivode of Moldavia (1673–1723)
Kniga sistema, ili Sostoianie mukhammedanskiia religii [A Book of Rules; or, The System of the Muhammedan Religion]
St. Petersburg: Sanktpiterburgskaia Tipografiia, 1722
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

A Western European Portrays an Eastern Execution
Jean de Thévenot (1633–1667)
Voyages … en Europe, Asie & Afrique [Travels in Europe, Asia & Africa]
Amsterdam: Michel Charles Le Céne, 1727
NYPL, General Research Division

The “Magnificent” Sultan
Julius Mandosius
Ottomanorum principum effigies ab Ottomano ad regnantem Mustapham II [Portraits of Ottoman Rulers from Osman to the Present-day Ruler Mustafa II]
Rome: D. de Rubeis, Jo. Jacobi heirs, 1698
NYPL, General Research Division

A Russian Porcelain Depicts Ottoman Turks
Pair of figural cups
Porcelain
Gardner Porcelain Factory, Russia, 18th century
Courtesy of A La Vieille Russie

The Ottoman Empire at Central Europe’s Gate
Anonymous German
Engraving of the Ottoman Siege of Vienna
N.p., after 1683
NYPL, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Print Collection

Turkish Silk for Christian Uses
Ecclesiastical textile
Silk brocade
Turkey, 16th century
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Department of Islamic Art, Rogers Fund, 1917 (17.22.2)

Eurasian Politics in Map Making
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571–1638) and Joan Blaeu (1596–1673)
Taurica Chersonese [Taurid of Kherson]
Amsterdam : Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Joan Blaeu, 1670?
NYPL, Map Division

The Ottomans Receive a Russian Embassy
Heinrich Christoph von Reimers (1768–1812)
Reise der russisch-kaiserlichen ausserordentlichen Gesandschaft an die Othomanische Pforte im Jahr 1793 [The Journey of the Extraordinary Russian Imperial Embassy to the Ottoman Porte in 1793]
St. Petersburg: [J. C. Shnoor (Shnor)], 1803
NYPL, General Research Division

Friction Along the Border
Nouvelle carte de la Crimée & toute La Mer Noire [A New Map of the Crimea and the Entire Black Sea]
N.p., [1737]
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

Catherine Receives the Ottomans
Jean Louis de Veilly (fl. 1759–63)
Engraving depicting the reception of the Ottoman Turkish embassy
[St. Petersburg], ca. 1764; printed 1857
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

The Sultan Receives a Russian Ambassador
Rossiiskoe posol’stvo v Konstantinopol’, 1776 goda [The Russian Embassy to Constantinople (i.e., Istanbul) in 1776]
St. Petersburg: Imperatorskaia Akademiia Nauk, 1777
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

A Turkish Paean to a Russian Beauty
Fazil Tahir Omerzade (d. 1810)
Khubannamah [The Book of the Excellent Ones]
Istanbul, copied 1797–98
NYPL, Spencer Collection

The Sultan’s Solemn Outing
Antoine Ignace Melling (1763–1831)
“A Solemn Procession of the Sovereign, on a Holiday (bayram),” from:
Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore [Picturesque Voyage from Constantinople and the Banks of the Bosphorus]
Paris: Treuttel et Würtz, 1819
NYPL, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Art and Architecture Collection

Russia’s Artistic Fascination with the Muslim World
Crescent-shaped box with depiction of a mosque
Silver with niello decoration
Russia, ca. 1780
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Bequest of John L. Cadwalader, 1914 (14.58.190)

The Muslim World in Russian Poetry
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin (1799–1837)
Bakhchisaraiskii fontan [Bakhchisarai Fountain]
Moscow: August Semen, 1824
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

Mapping the Safavid Empire
Johann Baptist Homann (1663–1724)
Imperii Persici in omnes suas Provincias [The Persian Empire and All Its Territories]
Nuremberg, early 18th century
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division, Bates-Pantuhoff Collection

Persian Poetic Glory
Firdawsi (A.H. 329/C.E. 940–A.H. 411/C.E. 1023)
Shahnamah [The Book of Kings]
Shiraz?, 1614 (miniatures after 1825, probably Teheran)
NYPL, Spencer Collection

India’s Mughal Treasure-House
John Ogilby (1600–1676)
Asia, the first part. Being an accurate description of Persia. The Vast Empire of the Great Mogol
London: the author, 1673
NYPL, General Research Division

Mughal Indian Exoticism
Jean Bernoulli (1744–1807)
Description historique et géographique de l’Inde [A Historical and Geographical Description of India]
Berlin: C. S. Spener, 1786–89
NYPL, General Research Division