Markus Voigt reports: It is the first time since 1914 that the public have had the opportunity to see a dozen wonderful rugs from the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, Romania, exhibited together outside the museum. Organised by the Romanian Embassy to the Holy See the exhibition is intended to mark the launch of the new book Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania published by Stefano Ionescu (see HALI 139 pp.55-57). The rugs are on display at Rome's Accademia di Romania, which is well located in the area called Valle Giulia, next to the Museum of Modern Art and close to Villa Borghese.
Unfortunately, the opening on Monday 4 April 2005 was somewhat overshadowed by the death of the Pope, but nevertheless a significant amount of people attended this unique event, including the Mayor of Sibiu, Prof Klaus Werner Johannis and the director of the Brukenthal Museum, Dr Alexandru Lungu. Alberto Boralevi, the well known scholar in the field of classical carpets presented the rugs on display.
In the centre of the exhibition is the largest and most important of the carpets: a wonderful small pattern Holbein rug attributed to the beginning of the 16th century, with excellent colours, good pile in original condition and a very rare border. Only two other examples with this border are known to exist. Other exhibits of note are a Lotto, a Bird rug and a group of double-niche Transylvanians, among them a wonderful white ground example. Another white ground double-niche rug is attributed to the Selendi type due to its structure and colour, whilst a superb prayer rug carries an inscription from the donor and the date of the donation (1720). Of course the excellent single-niche prayer rug from the cover of Stefano Ionescu's exhibition catalogue is on display which belongs to a small subgroup and looks Shirvan-esque compared to the others.
The exhibition ends on 29 April 2005 and I would like to advise all readers not to miss out on this rare opportunity to see these great antique rugs in original full pile. The only way to truly understand these classical carpets and learn about their beauty is to see them in the flesh. Do I need to mention Spring in Rome?
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