On the occasion of an exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institution, some twenty emblematic works from the Islamic Art department tell the story of France and its ties to the Islamic world: the history of kings, diplomacy, wars and exchanges, but also that of taste and collecting. These precious objects reveal the fascination they have exerted in the West since the Middle Ages and attest to the close and singular diplomatic relations between France and the Islamic world.
Coming from a vast geographical area stretching from Spain to India, the royal collections form, together with church treasures, the historical core of the museum's Islamic art holdings.