The relationship also echoes in the tulip pattern woven into a striking table carpet, circa 1650, of wool, silk and linen that is displayed at the exhibition. Tulips, now the national symbol of the Netherlands, were imported from Turkey centuries ago.

Another painting, “The Town Hall on the Dam, Amsterdam,” shows a multicultural mix of people standing in front of the imposing city hall building in 1693. The artist, Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde, sometimes added Oriental-style clothing on the figures to stress Amsterdam’s cosmopolitan nature, according to the catalog.

Mr. Roelofs cautioned that it would be taking the theme too far to imply that the show was sending a message to Turkey about the benefits of a multicultural society. “We see people of different backgrounds in these pictures,” he said. “We use them to get a discussion going on all kinds of things, also as a kind of mirror on contemporary society. Of course everyone will relate to these differently, according to his or her own background.”

But themes of religious tolerance do surface. “We want to show how important tolerance was in general to the Dutch,” he said. “People from all around the world, no matter their ethnic or religious background, would go to Amsterdam to trade and work together. A very nice aspect about this era was how a kind of tolerance and being a melting pot helped the Dutch Republic to become a world power.”

One thing happening in Europe now, he said, is “a tendency toward nationalism, including in the Netherlands. But we can see, even with this exhibit, how art can connect diverse people.”

The curator also included paintings directly related to the Near East or Middle East, like “The Dutch Embassy to Isfahan, Persia,” by Jan Baptist Weenix from 1658-59, a rare documentation of the important international trade with what is now Iran.