Working at the Watson Library this morning, I visited the breathtaking Islamic Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum. The collection of Islamic art housed at the Museum is universally considered to be the largest comprehensive collection of this art anywhere on the globe. It is an amazing phenomenon that one of the youngest of the world's greatest art museums and one which is removed from the Middle East, should hold the premier position in this field. I was astonished to learn that most of the objects in the collection entered the Museum before it has an Islamic department in the museum. |