How to Tell a Persian from a Turk: Safavid Ambassadors and the Visual Culture of the Papal Court from Gregory XIII (1572–1585) to Paul V (1605–1620)

Poster Session: Italy, Persia, and Early Modern GlobalismThis paper examined early-modern Italians' understanding of Safavid Persia, in relation to, and as mediated through, knowledge (and fear of) the Ottoman Empire. Mutual hostility to the Ottomans was one factor which motivated Christian Europeans to take a relatively benign view of Persia. I argue for a that art historians should take nuances of European perceptions of different Islamic polities and cultures into account, and this this approach can bring about a more accurate understanding of European-Islamic relations in general, and of European knowledge of Persia in particular