881
Zeki Boleken
Marmara
University, Department of Art History, Istanbul, Turkey;
zeki.boleken@marmara.edu.tr
Byzantine Spolia in the Ottoman Capital in the Light of New Evidence
With the Ottoman Turks, from 1453 onwards, the city’s urban reconscruction with monumental
buildings – as a new capital – demanded a huge
mass of construction material, which included that
from the previous Byzantine monuments.
The use of spolia, which was quite common in most Islamic States such as that of the Anatolian
Seljuks and the principalities (Beyliks) of Asia Minor, gained a different dimension with the
Ottomans. This use presents different aspects in the earlier and in the so called ‘classical’
periods of
Ottoman architecture, with changes in the concept of its use.
Just before 1453, we can see in Bursa a significant development in the production of Ottoman
architectural sculpture: the appearance of the first typical capital during the reign of Beyazıd I (1389-
1403), is an important example of this development, which as probably a creation of the non-Muslim
masons whom Beyazıd I had acquired after his conquest of western Anatolia.. The ‘visibility’ of the
spolia
materials used, such as capital, plinth, parapet and pillar, gradually disappears in Ottoman
architecture as it begins to develop its individual style.
In the 16
th
century, spolia has been re-used and kept hidden. An intense
use of re-cut of colored
marbles shows a hierarchical placement in the planimetrical formation of the building. In fact, a
color-based arrangement seems to have become one of the rules (e.g. use of corner columns).
The relationship of the Ottoman Turks with the City after 1453 provides interesting aspects
of social and cultural life. It is also surprising how some structures, representatives of Byzantine
architecture
and art in the city, have parallel significance for the Ottoman Turks. The similar
descriptions of Paulos Silentiarios in the 6
th
century and Tursun Bey in the 15
th
on the marble
lining in Hagia Sofia is an obvious example of this. Similarly for the use of plates of early Byzantine
craftsmanship in Vefa during the restoration of Kilise Mosque during the Ottoman period.
The marble imitations in the mihrab of Sokullu Mehmed Paşa Mosque,
and in the tile panels
of the Mausoleun of Hürrem Sultan resemble the marble-cover slabs of Hagia Sofia or the Chora
church. An interesting example of marble descriptions on tiles is the mihrab description which
appeared in the tile panel in the Dervish Pasha Mosque dated to 1574.
We have recently been working on the reuse of Byzantine material in Ottoman buildings of
Istanbul. Much unknown and interesting material has come to light;
capitals, columns shafts and
column bases have all been used. Slabs and even decorated soffits have been used in the furnishings
of mosques.
We will present here for the first time some of this material,
collected in this corpus, and some
Middle-Byzantine period cases - very important given their relative scarcity.