Festival of the New Moon from the frieze Ces Moeurs et fachons de faire de Turcz (Customs and Fashions of the Turks)

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 16th-century Europe’s fascination with the exotic East through *Festival of the New Moon*, captivating woodcut from Pieter Coecke van Ael and Mayken Verhulst frieze *Ces Moeurs et Fashions Faire de Turcz*Customs and Fashions the Turks), created in 1553. This expansive print (13 15/16 × 25 1/16 in.) vividly captures a festive Ottoman celebration marking the lunar cycle, teeming with human figures amid lush trees, offering a rare European glimpse into Turkish daily life and rituals. Pieter Coecke van Aelst, a Flemish artist renowned for tapestries and designs, drew from his own 1533 journey to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), documenting Islamic customs with ethnographic curiosity during the Renaissance. Collaborating with Mayken Verhulst, a skilled miniaturist and his relative, they produced this series to educate and entertain European audiences hungry for tales of the Ottoman Empire amid rising trade and diplomatic ties. As a woodcut—a relief printing technique where intricate scenes are carved into wood blocks and inked for multiple impressions—this work democratized high art, allowing wide circulation. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Drawings and Prints department (Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928), it exemplifies how prints bridged cultures, blending detailed observation with stylistic flair to immortalize a distant festival’s joy.

About the Artist

Pieter Coecke van Aelst|Mayken Verhulst · 1502–1550

Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550) was a leading Flemish artist of the Renaissance, renowned for his multifaceted talents as a painter, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestries, stained glass, woodcuts, and metalwork. Born in Aalst, in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), he likely studied under Bernaert van Orley, a prominent Antwerp painter, before becoming a master in the city...