page_title: Reception of Islam in Early Modern Europe
section_title: The turban in art and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Reception of Islam in Early Modern Europe / Early Modern Orientalism / The turban in art and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Suleiman_in_Veronese_The_Wedding_at_Cana_1563
context_page_description: There was a certain amount of cultural contact between Europe in the Renaissance to Early Modern period and the Islamic world, however decreasing in intensity after medieval cultural contact in the era of the crusades and the Reconquista.
  European contact with Islam has been mostly limited with the military effort opposing the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.
  There was limited direct interaction between the two cultures even though there was plenty of trade between Europe and the Middle East at this time. Merchants would often deal through an intermediary, a practice common since the time of the Roman Empire. Historians have noted that even during the 12th and 14th centuries the two parties had little interest in learning about each other.
  The history of the Ottoman Empire is intimately connected to the history of Renaissance and Early Modern Europe.
  The European Renaissance was significantly triggered by the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Empire reached its historical apogee in 1566, coinciding with the beginning of the scientific revolution in Europe, which would lead to the political dominance of emerging modern Europe over the course of the following century.
context_section_description: The turban often represented Muslims in the paintings of Italian and Flemish artists when they depicted scenes of the Ottoman Empire and Biblical lore.  Famous figures such as Suleyman the Magnificent, Hagar, and Hayreddin Barbarossa appear in these paintings.  The tradition of depicting Biblical characters in turbans has continued through to this century, as at least one of the wise men is always depicted with a turban.
  Turban iconography was highly prominent, especially in Renaissance England.  While friendly relations were formed between England and the Islamic civilization of the Middle East in the early 16th century, Turkish fashions became popular for the higher classes.  During times of interaction with Istanbul, Queen Elizabeth I of England wore Turkish clothing styles. It was believed that she favored working with the Islamic sultans of Istanbul rather than the Roman Catholic leaders of Europe.  These suspicions were heightened when she asked Sultan Murad III and his son Mohammad III for military assistance.  Although she never did receive any assistance from the sultans, her relations with the Sultan and his son did not waver.
caption: Suleiman the Magnificent appears at the table in the 1563 The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-T10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12.01", "Image DateTime": "2010:11:20 08:13:51", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "860", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10665", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/25", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "320", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:09:20 01:11:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:09:20 01:11:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "633/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "461", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "614", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "718", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}