Mamluks: 1250-1517 at the Musée du Louvre

 

Fables de Kalila et Dimna (détail)
© Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

 
 

Mamluks

1250-1517

April 30, 2025 — July 28, 2025

 

The Musée du Louvre marks a European first with a major exhibition on the Mamluk sultanate (1250–1517), aiming to address this golden age of the Islamic Near East in all its scope and richness by examining it from a transregional perspective.

The Mamluks, freed slave-soldiers of primarily Turkish (and later Caucasian) origin, built their legend on their warrior prowess. From 1250 to 1517, the Mamluk sultanate conquered the last bastions of the Crusaders, fought and repulsed the Mongol threat, survived Timur’s invasions and kept its threatening Turkmen and Ottoman neighbours at bay before succumbing to the latter’s expansionism. It encompassed a vast territory including Egypt, Bilad al-Sham (Syria, Libya, Israel/Palestine, Jordan), part of eastern Anatolia and the Hejaz region of Arabia, which includes Mecca and Medina.

But the history of the Mamluk sultanate cannot be reduced to its conquests and feats of arms. Its culture, as complex and multifaceted as its society, was part of a little-known and singularly fluid medieval era. A world in which sultans mingled with emirs and rich civil elites, all actively engaged in artistic patronage. A pluralistic society in which women as well as Christian and Jewish minorities had a place. Another ‘Middle Kingdom’ where Europe, Africa and Asia converged and in which people and ideas circulated, as did merchandise and artistic repertoires.

Structured in five sections (the Mamluks, their society, their cultures, their connections with the rest of the world and their art), the exhibition presents nearly 260 works, a third of which are from the Louvre and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, featured beside prestigious national and international loans. Textiles, objets d’art, manuscripts, paintings, ivories, stone and wood interior décors reveal a teeming artistic, literary, religious and scientific world. The sultanate was then the cultural heart of the Arab world and the heir to a number of grand traditions. Mamluk visual culture would make a lasting impression on art and architectural history.

The exhibition, through a spectacular scenography, immersive spaces and varied layouts, invites visitors into a living experience of the world of the Mamluks. Visitors will also be introduced to historical figures representative of Mamluk society, telling their unique stories as part of the greater history.

This is an unprecedented opportunity to discover this glorious and yet little-known empire through masterpieces from around the world, providing a new perspective on medieval Egypt and the Near East, at a time when it stood at a cultural junction between Asia, Africa and Europe.

Organized by:
Head curators: 
Souraya Noujaïm, Musée du Louvre 
Exhibition curator: 
Carine Juvin, Musée du Louvre

With the generous support of the Cercle des Mécènes du Louvre and the International Council of the Louvre American Friends of the Louvre.

This exhibition is organised with special support from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Exhibition Preview

 

Chanfrein au nom de l’émir Muqbil al-Rumi
© Lyon MBA photo Martial Couderette

Certificat de pèlerinage à La Mecque (détail)
© From the British Library Collection

Casque au nom du sultan Barsbay
© 2010 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois

Coran de l’émir Baybars al-Jashnajir, vol 2. © From the British Library Collection

Bouteille aux lions, Égypte ou Syrie, milieu du XIVe siècle, Verre soufflé, émaillé et doré, H. 39 cm, D. max. 27 cm, Lisbonne, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum © Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - Calouste Gulbenkian Museum / photo Catarina Gomes Ferreira

Aiguiere destinée à l'epouse du sultan Qaytbay
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Bassin, dit Baptistère de Saint Louis, Syrie ou Égypte, vers 1330-1340, Alliage cuivreux ciselé, incrusté d’argent, d’or et de pâte noire, H. 23,2 cm, D. max. 50 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre © 2009 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois

Carreau de revetement à décor végétal © 2010 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois

Coupe magique
© 2019 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hervé Lewandowski

Vase à inscription poétique, Égypte ou Syrie, 1re moitié du XIVe siècle, Céramique siliceuse, décor d’engobe et peint sous glaçure, H. 31,9 cm, D. 24,9 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre © 2010 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois

Brûle-parfum au nom du sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, Égypte ou Syrie, vers 1330-1341, Alliage cuivreux ciselé, incrusté d’or, d’argent et de pâte noire, H. 36,5 cm, D. 16,5 cm, Doha, Museum of Islamic Art © The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha / photo Samar Kassab

Armure du sultan Qaytbay, Égypte (?), vers 1468-1496, Acier décor damasquiné d’or, fer H. 78,7 cm, l. 138,4 cm, poids 11,41 kg New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art CC0
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bouteille a decor sinisant
© Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur – Inventaire général photo Frédéric Pauvarel

Maqamat d'al-Hariri 92a
© Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

Astrolabe
© Observatoire de Paris

Al-Aqsaraʾi (m.1348), Traité de Furusiyya Égypte ou Syrie, 1371 Manuscrit en arabe ; encre et pigments sur papier H. 31,2 cm, l. 21,4 cm Londres, British Library, Ms Add. 18866, f. 124v-125r From the British Library Collection

Grand vase aux oiseaux
© Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation / Calouste Gulbenkian Museum / photo Catarina Gomes Ferreira

Réception d’une ambassade vénitienne par le gouverneur de Damas
© GrandPalaisRmn musée du Louvre / Gabriel de Carvalho

Figure de theatre d'ombre
© Linden-Museum Stuttgart / photo Dominik Drasdow

Bifolio de Coran monumental CC BY 4.0 Chester Beatty

Panneau de cénotaphe
© 2011 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois