Sheila R. Canby

Sheila Randolph Canby (January 10, 1949 – August 17, 2025) was an American art historian and curator. She was the curator of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and before that curator of Islamic art and antiquities at the British Museum. After her retirement, she was Curator Emeritus of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum. She was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Early life Sheila Canby was born on January 10, 1949, in Wilmington, Delaware. Career Canby was the Metropolitan Museum of Art's curator of Islamic art from October 2009 to April 2019 and was a former curator of Islamic art and antiquities at the British Museum. She was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. She also held positions at the Brooklyn Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She was a visiting lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. They had one son.

Selected publications Persian Painting. British Museum Press, London, 1993. Rebellious Reformer: Drawings and Paintings of Riza-Yi 'Abbasi of Isfahan. Azimuth Editions, 1996. Princes, Poets and Paladins: Islamic and Indian Paintings from the Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. British Museum Press, London, 1998. The Golden Age Of Persian Art 1501-1722. British Museum Press, London, 1999. Safavid Art and Architecture. British Museum Press, London, 2002. (Editor) Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran 1501-76. Skira Editore, 2003. (Edited with Jon Thompson) Islamic Art In Detail. British Museum Press, London, 2005. Persian Love Poetry. British Museum Press, London, 2005. (With Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis) Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran. British Museum Press, London, 2009. Shah 'Abbas and The Treasures Of Imperial Iran. British Museum Press, London, 2009. The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of Kings. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014. Islamic Art: Close-Up. British Museum Press, London, 2015.