Hagia Sophia vs. Mosque of Sultan Selim Comparison Notes PDF

Preview

Summary

Professor: Dr. Aderonke Adesanya...

Description

Hagia Sophia ( means “Holy Wisdom refers to the dedication of the of this church to christ as the embodiment of divine wisdom) History - Replaced a fourth century church destroyed when crowds set the old church on fire and concerned the emperor within his palace - Emperor Justinian chose two scholar-theoreticians (Anthemius of Trales -> specialist in geometry and optics; Isodorus of Miletus -> specialist in physics) - Developed a design executed by builders who refined masonry techniques by building towers and domed rooms that were part of the city’s defenses - Rumors said a miraculous intervention of angels built the mosque but actually mortal builders built it in only five years - First Hagia Sophia fell because a pier and pendentive shifted and because the dome was too shallow and exerted too much outward force at its base - Was to become the preferred method of supporting domes in Byzantine architecture Structure - Innovative hybrid of longitudinal and central planning - Dominated by its gigantic dome - Church has withstood many earthquakes - Was a gigantic theater for public, imperial worship of God - Dome seems to float mysteriously over a void because of the piers submerge back into the darkness of aisles rather than expressed within the main space - Half domes (conches) extend the central dome to connect with the narthex on one end and halfdome of the sanctuary apse on the other Interior - Windows created the circle of light that helps the dome appear to hover - The core (naos) is flanked by side aisles and galleries above them overlooking the naos - The interior was paneled with costly colored marbles and ornamental stone inlays. - Decorative marble columns were taken from ancient buildings and reused to support the interior arcades. - Initially, the upper part of the building was minimally decorated in gold with a huge cross in a medallion at the summit of the dome Exterior - Architects raised the summit 20 feet higher, added exterior buttressing - Weightless effect was reinforced by the light-reflecting gold mosaic that covered the surfaces of the dome and the pendentives - Main dome rests on four pendentives that connect the base of the dome with the huge supporting piers at the four corners of the square area

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael W. Cothren. Art History . 5th ed. Vol. 1. Pearson. Wegner, Author: Emma. "Hagia Sophia, 532–37 | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed November 29, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haso/hd_haso.htm. Mosque of Sultan Selim ( aka Selimiye Mosque) History - Ottoman architects developed the domed, centrally planned mosque on their own - Hagia Sophia i nspired them to strive for more ambitious style - Sinan (architect) - Began career in army, serving as an engineer in the Ottoman - Served Suleyman - Is credited for over 300 imperial commissions - Completed the Mosque of Sultan Selim in 1579 at the age of 80 - Designed in the provincial capital of Edirne for Suleyman’s son, Selim II Structure - Influenced by Hagia Sophia  -> open expanse under a vast dome floating on a ring of light - Rejects Hagia Sophia’s l ongitudinal pull from the entrance to the sanctuary - Centrally planned structure - Dome can be seen from a distance Interior - In the arches that supports the dorm and span from one pier to the next, light pours from windows into the interior - Housed a madrasa (a college for Islamic instruction) and other educational buildings, a cemetery, a hospital, charity kitchens, income-producing covered market and baths - Composed of a mosque, two symmetrical square madrasas (one of which served as a college for studying the hadiths, or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), and there was a row of shops (arasta) and a school for learning the recitation of the Quran - Framed by vertical lines of four minarets and raised on a platform at the city’s edge - Muqarnas are the faceted decorative forms that alternately protrude and recess and that are commonly used in Islamic architecture to bridge a point of transition—in this case, the broad base of the dome above and the slender piers below. Note that the muqarnas steps outward it rises, creating a corbelled effect, and allowing for a more open space below. - Squinches are the architectural support, decorated by the muqarnas, transition from the dome down to the eight piers. - The Qibla wall (the wall that faces Mecca) projects outward further emphasizing the openness the interior space

Muzzin’s platform (müezzin mahfili) , - Unusual placement - The muzzins (who lead prayers) chant to the congregation - Gülru Necipoğlu, a leading Ottoman art historian, states that it reflects Sinan’s interest in surpassing Christian architecture (raised stand for biblical readings in a church, innovation disrupts the space below the dome) - Position creates a vertical alignment of square, octagon, and circle, using geometry to refer to the earthly and heavenly spheres. - The mosque’s inscriptions focus on a central difference between Islam and Christianity—mainly that Allah (God) is indivisible and that the prophet Muhammad is God’s human messenger. Exterior - measures 190 x 130 meters - Hemisphere dome that tops the mosque is more that 102 feet in diameter (larger than the Hagia Sophia) - Square base to central dome is accomplished by corner half dome that enhance the spatial plasticity and openness of the prayer hall’s airy interior - 8 massive piers that bear the dome’s weight are visible both within and without - on the exterior they resolve the pointed towers that encircle the main dome - Revealed the structural logic of the building and clarifying form - the exterior is clearly not an artistic afterthought but rather an elegant, architectural shell vital to the overall composition (UNLIKE THE HAGIA SOPHIA) - The placement of the pencil minarets at the four corners of the prayer hall focus attention on the volume of the Dome. - Polychrome exterior is composed of stone mixed with brick that compliments the geometric volumes that define the exterior forms of the building. -

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael W. Cothren. Art History . 5th ed. Vol. 1. Pearson. Macaulay-Lewis, Elizabeth. "Khan Academy." Khan Academy. Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam/islamic-art-late-period/a/mosque-edir ne....