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Exhibition Tour: Imagine Me and You

A procession of an Ottoman sultan on horseback, accompanied by soldiers on foot and on horseback.
Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Netherlandish, Customs and Fashions of the Turks (detail), 1553. Woodcut printed from 10 blocks on joined sheets of antique laid paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Acquisition Fund for Prints, 2011.11.

Tour

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

This event does not require registration; see further details below.

Join exhibition curator Talitha Maria G. Schepers for an in-depth exploration of the exhibition Imagine Me and You: Dutch and Flemish Encounters with the Islamic World, 1450–1750.

Discover what prompted Netherlandish artists to include everyday objects from the Islamic world, like textiles and carpets, in their paintings. Why did Rembrandt copy a Mughal painting? And what role did the tulip—a symbol of the Netherlands—play in Habsburg-Ottoman diplomacy?

Imagine Me and You (May 18–August 18, 2024) explores the rich and diverse encounters that occurred between artists from the Low Countries (part of the Habsburg Empire) and the multicultural, multilingual, and multifaith societies of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires from 1450 to 1750. A myriad of cultural, diplomatic, and mercantile interactions took place during this time, either in person or through the exchange of objects, art, and ideas. The exhibition traces these multiple encounters through the world of Netherlandish artworks and their varied representations of the Islamic realm.

Led by:
Talitha Maria G. Schepers, Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow, Division of European and American Art, and exhibition curator

Please check in with museum staff at the Visitor Services desk in the Calderwood Courtyard to request to join the tour. Tours are limited to 18 people and are available on a first-come, first-served basis; no registration is required.

The Harvard Art Museums are now offering free admission every day, Tuesday through Sunday. Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

Support for Imagine Me and You: Dutch and Flemish Encounters with the Islamic World, 1450–1750 is provided by the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Support Fund and the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.