The catalogue accompanying the exhibition Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 details Venice’s role as a commercial, political, and diplomatic hub, strategically situated at the center of Mediterranean trade, and examines how the city absorbed artistic and cultural ideas from the Islamic world. With its rich essays on the historical and cultural background, focused studies on individual media, and technical examination of paint pigments, textile weaves, metalwork inlay, and lacquer and glass production, the catalogue is an impressive showcase of the resources compiled by its editor, Stefano Carboni, who also served as the exhibition’s curator. Carboni eloquently guides the reader through the major themes and contributions of the catalogue in his introductory essay, “Moments of Vision: Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797.” The essay is organized around momentous dates, beginning with 828, the year the relics of St. Mark were purloined from Alexandria by “two merchants from the emergent and ambitious city on the lagoon” (13), and ending with the demise of the Serenissima Republic in 1797. Carboni emphasizes his preference for the term “pragmatism” to describe Venice’s attitude toward the Islamic world, as the city always managed to balance its mercantile interests, which lay with the Islamic world, against...