"Bellini" carpet. Dimensions: Rug: H. 61 3/4 in. (156.8 cm)W. 47 3/8 in. (156.8 x 120.3 cm). Date: 16th-17th century.The centerfield of this carpet presents a geometrical design of a pointed arch above an octagonal motif. The arch evokes a prayer-niche or mihrab (indicating the direction of Mecca). The octagon, however, is unusual and has been a source of discussion among scholars. Some interpret it as a second arch but in the shape of a horse-shoe, a form found in the architecture of Islamic Spain and northern Africa. Others see it as a fountain associated with ablutions before prayer, a gateway to paradise, or a depiction of the Ka'ba in Mecca, since illustrations of the site sometimes represent the colonnade edge of the sacred cubicle as a "keyhole" motif. This type of design was suitable for small carpets that were woven in village workshops and intended for prayer. They have come to be known as "Bellini" carpets, after the Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini (d. 1516), whose painti