6 – The Art of the Sultans: Ottoman Art and Architecture
Course 6
Dr Antonia Gatward Cevizli
Summer School – Online
Monday 14 – Friday 18 June 2021
£395
Course description
The skyline of Istanbul is one of the most recognisable in the world. However, the Ottoman artistic tradition is less widely known. This course traces the most significant developments of Ottoman art and architecture from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. From the Green Mosque in the former Ottoman capital of Bursa, we shall progress to Edirne and then on to that great prize: Istanbul. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 was a major turning point, changing the way the Ottomans saw themselves and how they were regarded by others. Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror initiated the city’s makeover, which transformed it into the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Our exploration of the art of the sultans will introduce us to patrons of the arts, such as Süleyman the Magnificent, the architect Sinan (often referred to as ‘the Michelangelo of the East’), and the most impressive sites of Istanbul, including the Topkapı Palace and the Süleymaniye Mosque. We shall also examine in detail the development of Iznik ceramics and explore the circumstances surrounding Gentile Bellini’s portrait of Sultan Mehmed II.
Lecturer’s biography
Dr Antonia Gatward Cevizli completed her PhD at the University of Warwick, specialising in cultural exchange between Italy and the Ottomans in the fifteenth century. During her undergraduate degree in art history and Italian and her MA in art history, she studied in Siena and Venice. She has taught art history at Sabancı University, Istanbul. Antonia is a Course Leader at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and also teaches on the Victoria and Albert Museum year course. Her publications have focused on cultural and diplomatic exchange between Italy and the Ottomans.
