Islamic glories: Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts

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  A woman in a Georgian costume thought to be from Isfahan, 17th century. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC.

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  Artists in the Court Atelier. Courtesy Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

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  A tile panel from Safavid Iran, early 17th century. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC

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  Scenic animal carpet. 1625. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection.

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  an animal carpet from Mughal India,1625. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Courtesy V&A, London

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  The Return from the Flight into Egypt. Muhammad Zaman, Isfahan. 1689. Courtesy Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Mass., gift of John Goelet (1966.6)

The Mughal, Ottoman and Safavid empires represented a time of rapid change and artistic innovation across the Islamic world, from the Bay of Bengal to the Mediterranean Sea. At the heart of this were the writers, poets, artists and craftsmen who created exquisite works of art for the ruling elite. This exhibition in the United States looks at the work of these charismatic individuals, such as Mughal writer Abu’l Fazl and Ottoman patron of the arts, Sultan Mahmud I. It features more than 120 works from the 16th to 18th centuries, including paintings, ceramics, textiles and jewellery.

• Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts runs at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, until January 31. For information visit www.thewalters.org