Fragment of a large pattern Holbein carpet, Anatolia, late 15th, early 16th century. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Fragment of a large pattern Holbein carpet, Anatolia, late 15th, early 16th century. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

wool pile on wool foundation

Although the carpet pattern dates from the thirteenth century, it was first represented by Italian artists in the 1470s. Most surviving examples and depictions have a single row of compartments. A staggered layout of two, one, and two compartments also existed. It does not seem to have been made with two rows of compartments, as in several of Memling's paintings