Souren Melikian has an excellent review of “Islamic Art” at the Met here. The article is particularly welcome as the NYTimes Arts Section has traditionally refused to trouble the staid ground of ancient art criticism. Michael Kimmelman, for example, a regular NYTimes Art correspondent, seems to have never met a case of cultural theft he didn’t approve of. Indeed it is very hard to find in the Times archive an article where archaeological research comes out as a greater priority than the adventurous–and sometimes illegal–acquisitions policies of the Met (even when caught red handed, Kimmelman still finds cause to defend the Met). Therefore particular kudos to Melikian since critique of the Met clearly does not come easily to the Times editors.