Illuminates the 300-year history of trade and cultural exchange between East and West and how the mutual fascination that developed shaped both cultures - and the art produced in each. Stunning images of exquisite objects in every medium are brought together to tell an epic story of commercial, religious, personal and artistic relationships that have shaped history.
Vasco da Gama set sail in 1497 on a quest for highly prized spices from the East. His discovery of the sea route to India established, for the first time, direct contact between Europe and East Asia, ushering in a period of rich commercial and artistic exchange. This sumptuously illustrated volume traces the links between these two cultures over three centuries and explores their ongoing fascination with each other - a fascination that persists to this day.
The book is divided into three sections- Discoveries is about exploration from East to West and from West to East; Encounters deals with relationships - diplomatic, missionary and personal - highlighting some of the colourful characters that inhabited this period of history; while Exchanges focuses on trade, particularly in luxury goods, which gave rise to a cross-fertilisation of styles and tastes. This resulted in some truly remarkable works of art, some of which are illustrated here for the first time.
