Islam. the Great
Ottoman Era
Context
AD 1400 - 1600
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Context.
Context.
The Challenge of Constantinople.
Constantinople.
Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces.
Spaces.
Case Study.
Study.
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1453:
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Context
The Turks conquer Constantinople and establish the Ottoman Empire.
Empire.
Turks become a major European power.
Context
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Byzantine Empire, 565.
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Context
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Byzantine Empire, 668.
Context
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Byzantine Empire, 780.
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Context
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Byzantine Empire, 1025.
Context
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Byzantine Empire, 1092.
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Context
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Byzantine Empire, 1143.
Context
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Byzantine Empire, 1278.
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Context
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1453
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The Turks conquer Constantinople and establish the Ottoman Empire.
Empire.
Turks become a major European power.
Byzantine Empire, 1453.
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Byzantine Empire, 1350.
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Context
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2
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1501 - 1722
Context
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Safavid dynasty in Persia;
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new high point of Islamic art.
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1526 - 1858
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Islamic Empire of the Great Mughal in India; decline in the 18C.
Independent artistic school.
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Context
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The Challenge of Constantinople
The Challenge of Constantinople
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The Challenge of Constantinople
The Challenge of Constantinople
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The Alhambra palace in Granada, built in the 13th and 14th centuries,
centuries,
was the residence of the last Muslim princes in Spain.
By the time Islamic rule in Spain had finally been
superceded by the Reconquista in 1492, a new
Muslim power had already become established at
the other end of the Mediterranean.
It was a vast dreamdream-like complex full of reflective pools, gently rippling
fountains and buildings whose contours were blurred by stalactite
stalactite
vaults and other decorative details.
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The Challenge of Constantinople
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In the 11 - 12C, the Turks had progressed from Central Asia to Asia
Minor and in the 14C their dominion extended to the Balkans.
Over the next decades it extended to Tunisia, the Arabian Peninsula,
Peninsula,
and north of the Black Sea.
The Challenge of Constantinople
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The Empire ruled by the Ottoman dynasty was crowned in 1453 with
the conquest of Constantinople.
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The Challenge of Constantinople
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This brought a new flourishing of the city today
known as Istanbul.
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The ‘second Rome’
Rome’ and centre of orthodox
Christianity became the capital of a Muslim empire.
The Challenge of Constantinople
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This was reflected in its architectural appearance.
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The scale: the Hagia Irene, the Hagia Sophia.
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The Challenge of Constantinople
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Experience with domed structures, 12C.
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The basis already existed for the Ottoman
alternative to colonnaded mosques.
The Challenge of Constantinople
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Its high point was not reached until 1539 when Sinan,
Sinan, for whom the
Hagia Sophia was something of a fixation, was appointed court architect.
architect.
Mimar Sinan,
,
1489
1588
(possibly
on
the
left).
Sinan
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The Challenge of Constantinople
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The Challenge of Constantinople
Having built several other mosques, Sinan constructed his masterpiece
-- the Great Mosque (Selimiye Mosque)
Mosque) for Sultan Selim II.
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The Challenge of Constantinople
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Sinan towered domes and semisemi-domes on top of each other creating a
building which, as a result of its height and compact structure, is
monumental and weighty.
The Great Mosque for Selim II (Selimiye
(Selimiye Mosque), Edirne,
Edirne, 1570 - 1574.
Built in Edirne (Adrianople),
Adrianople), the first Ottoman residence in Europe.
The Challenge of Constantinople
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The slender pencil minarets, a typical feature of the Ottoman mosque,
mosque,
provide an elegant contrast with the vast domed central structure.
structure.
The Great Mosque for Selim II (Selimiye
(Selimiye Mosque), Edirne,
Edirne, 1570 - 1574.
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
Clearly Defined as Opposed to
Elaborately Staged Spaces
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The heyday of the domed mosque, which also
represented the high point of Islamic architecture,
disintegrated with the Western Renaissance, in
which the dome played an equally important role.
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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The Islamic houses of god were completely
different from their Christian counterparts.
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Spatial sequences, the staging of depth, and the
dome (artificial heaven) could be omitted, as the
mihrab did not have the significance of the altar.
Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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The space does not consist of intertwined architectural elements but is
enclosed by smooth shells and walls perforated by a multitude of
of
windows without elaborate frames.
Sueleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1550 - 1557.
Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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It is decorated with mosaics, geometric or floral planar ornamentation,
ornamentation,
or with decorative scripts.
Sueleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1550 - 1557.
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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Thus Sinan was not concerned with the creation of overpowering,
elaborately staged spaces but clearly defined spaces.
spaces.
Sueleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1550 - 1557.
All this has proved sufficient to inspire Western
observers to use the terms ‘fairy tale majesty and
beauty’
beauty’ in describing the most famous and typical
works of Islamic art.
These are abstract forms developed because of the ban on figurative
figurative
representation, which are important in terms of their contribution
contribution to
the overall impression of mosques.
Sueleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1550 - 1557.
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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This association is so deeply rooted that the
European and Early Christian architecture which
was adopted, further developed, and propagated
by Islam seems alien.
Texts, illustrations, and films, which located the stories from ‘A
Thousand and One Nights’
Nights’ in medievalmedieval-Islamic architecture, have led
to most members of Western civilisation being reminded of the
imaginary world of fairy tales when they see such buildings.
Sueleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1550 - 1557.
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Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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Most members of Western civilisation would probably identify the
Hagia Sophia, once the greatest Christian church, as a mosque -even without the minaret, which was later added.
Clearly Defined as Opposed to Elaborately Staged Spaces
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Islam left its architectural traces in Europe.
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Its influence on European architecture is reflected
almost exclusively in ornamentation.
Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, 532 - 537.
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Case Study
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The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II
The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II.
II.
Taj Mahal.
Mahal.
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The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II
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The mosque for Sultan Selim II is the last great work of the legendary
Ottoman architect Sinan,
Sinan, who was over eighty years old when it was
built and called it his masterpiece.
Sinan chose a wide rectangular courtyard from which the mosque rises
at the back as if from a mould.
The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II
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The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II
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The refined sobriety of the homogeneous prayer hall creates an
impression of axial orientation through the location of the mihrab
opposite the entrance hall.
It is flanked by four minarets which shoot up to the sky like pencils.
pencils.
They enclose a dome which is 32 metres in diameter and lies over a
room based on the Kaaba cube in Mecca.
This room is raised above eight powerful octagonal pillars.
The Great Mosque for Sultan Selim II
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Thanks to Sinan’
Sinan’s impressive manipulation of light, the entire building
seems flooded with sunlight; it is seen as the greatest achievement
achievement of
Ottoman architecture.
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Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
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The Taj Mahal is a majestic mausoleum, which the Shah Jahan (ruled
1628 - 1658) commissioned in commemoration of his wife Mumtaj
Mahal,
Mahal, who died in childbirth.
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Taj Mahal
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The shining white marble building stands outside the garden of Shahar
Bag, as Shah Jahan wanted to be buried in a similar black marble
mausoleum which he planned to have built on the opposite bank of
the Yamuna river.
Taj Mahal
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In 1658, he was supplanted by his son Aurangzep who destroyed his
father’
father’s plans and buried him beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal.
Mahal.
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Taj Mahal
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The complex is accessed through a red sandstone gateway which
provides a conscious contrast to the white marble of the mausoleum.
mausoleum.
Taj Mahal
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Having entered the complex, the observer faces the powerful
mausoleum from a distance.
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Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
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The building is reflected in a long pool of water in the foreground.
foreground.
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The Taj Mahal has a square plan with slanting corners.
A high tambour supports the enormous onion dome, which is 28
metres in diameter and 65 metres in height.
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Taj Mahal
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Each side of the tambour is flanked by a 2020-metremetre-high longitudinal
hall (iwan
), the frame of which exceeds the ceiling height.
(iwan),
Taj Mahal
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Taj Mahal
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This is reinforced by the four corner minarets which do not detract
detract
from the dominance of the central mausoleum.
Taj Mahal
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The interior of the mausoleum is defined by the planned procession
procession of
pilgrims and the central tomb chamber, which also links the four
ancillary room on the diagonal axes of the building.
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It is strictly symmetrical on all sides and its transparency gives
gives many
nuances of colour with the movement of the sun during the day.
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Taj Mahal
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Pavilions on both sides of the main dome form a pyramidpyramid-like link
which gives the central building an upward thrust.
Taj Mahal
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The burial chamber is covered by a semisemi-dome, above which the
second onion dome rises. The latter is only visible from the outside.
outside.
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Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
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There is also much debate as to the extent to which the Taj Mahal can
be seen as a fully independent building of the Indian Moghul tradition,
The architect of the Taj Mahal is not known by name, a fact which has
given rise to speculation.
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Taj Mahal
End
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and to what extent it was influenced by the Timuridic mausoleums and
the PersianPersian-Safavidic onion domes.
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