Issue 228 · Summer 2026·Kazakh embroidered suede robes, Two 16th-century weavings linked by powerful art dealers, An inscribed Caucasian dowry rug and its matrimonial symbolism
Milan's Galleria Moshe Tabibnia has just announced that it will exhibit at Frieze Masters in London this October — prompting us to look back at HALI's last review of the gallery, originally published in HALI 214.
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Ben Evans
Editor, HALI
·4 min read·30 Jul 2026·
Installation view of the first-floor gallery showing a 16th-century Persian Salting group prayer rug from a private collection, two 17th-century Transylvanian prayer rugs and a 17th-century column prayer rug attributed to Armenia. On the floor plinth is a 15th-century Persian zilu saf fragment
The strength and clarity of the title, ‘Sacred Material’, is reflected in the focus and quality of the material showed in Moshe Tabibnia Gallery’s most recent exhibition (ended 12 February 2023). The theme is expanded upon in the sister gallery, simply named BUILDING, through contemporary art in ‘Il Numinoso’. This also includes a number of textiles: a dynamic Sardinian flatweave (HALI 180) and an Alighiero Boetti flatweave from the ‘Alternating 1 to 100 and Vice Versa’ series.
The beneficial connection between the two Milan galleries could not be better expressed by any other subject, a proposition not lost on the art critic and historian Marco Meneguzzo. His essay that accompanies both exhibitions opines that the old objects can be infused with an element of sanctity, like the antique prayer rugs, through accumulated veneration and use; while the contemporary art objects seek a similar connection to something deeper, a window through which the spiritual can be approached.
This exhibition closes as The Textile Museum at George Washington University opens ‘Prayer and Transcendence’ (until 1 July 2023). That the prayer rugs on display at a commercial gallery like Moshe Tabibnia can equal the depth and quality of those shown by one of the world’s greatest carpet collections should indicate quite how good ‘Sacred Material’ is. Of course, this is not about point scoring: I merely mean there will not be a zilu fragment (3) in Washington, for instance. This long fragment is one of four or five multi-niche prayer rugs on display, helping to tell its own story about faith—one in which the textile is witness to a group, public or family act of worship, rather than the personal act of devotion represented by the individual prayer rug.
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Kilim saf or multi-niche prayer kilim, Central Anatolia, 17th century. 1.58 x 3.75 m (5' 2" x 12' 4" )
Gallery Moshe Tabibnia, Milan
It is difficult to be precise about the number of safs on show, thanks to one of the curious fragments seen in (2). This small, light-blue ground fragment is a niche that has small remnants of the same ground colour to each side, and the format of the beautifully drawn red pendants suggest a multiple niche format. This curious rug was probably made in Damascus, and is related to the two 16th- century medallion carpets in the Türk ve Islam Museum. The arabesque, colours and weave are all closely related, and this small fragment might well be the key to understanding the brief moment when Damascus and then the Cairo workshops were opened up to Ottoman court production.
While the use of prayer rugs in Persian Shi‘a acts of worship is less typical, there were a few exceptional Iranian items to accompany the zilu: a singular 16th-century Salting rug (3), which exudes quality, and a northwest Persian 16th-century saf fragment, other fragments of which are in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin and the Al-Sabah collection in Kuwait.
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Installation view of the first-floor gallery showing a Mughal pashmina pile prayer rug, ca. 1700, a Persian 16th-century saf fragment and a 16th-century Damascus saf or prayer rug fragment
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Installation view showing a selection of Caucasian prayer rugs from the first half of the 19th century
Naturally though, for such an exhibition, the prayer rugs of the Caucasus should be a serious focus; and the ground-floor, street-level gallery room has seven examples (5) from no later than the mid-19th century, as evidenced by the tall prayer arch on several east Caucasian examples. Seeing these pieces and handling them helps appreciation of not only the condition but also the weave and material quality. These would certainly have been highly expensive and precious objects when originally made or commissioned. Of particular note is the southern Caucasian silk foundation rug dated 1832, which belongs to a small group of rugs that I urged the gallery to give further study, as the gallery has more examples than anywhere else, and deeper examination may help date this medium more accurately.
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Installation view showing The Triumph of Christ Brussels tapestry, 16th century, and a 19th-century Beshir prayer rug
The European pieces (4) included in the show help to create a fuller view of the religious realm associated with textiles, and show how and why textiles have for generations been allied to ideas of the sacred. This is a theme that I hope will be taken up again by museums, and indeed by this gallery at some time in the future.
