Ottoman Baroque architecture
Ottoman Baroque architecture, also known as Turkish Baroque, was a period in Ottoman architecture in the 18th century and early 19th century which was influenced by European Baroque architecture. Preceded by the changes of the Tulip Period and Tulip Period architecture, the style marked a significant departure from the classical style of Ottoman architecture and introduced new decorative forms to mostly traditional Ottoman building types. It emerged in the 1740s during the reign of Mahmud I and its most important early monument was the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, completed in 1755. Later in the 18th century, new building types were also introduced based on European influences. The last fully Baroque monuments, such as the Nusretiye Mosque, were built by Mahmud II in the early 19th century, but during this period new European-influenced styles were introduced and supplanted the Baroque.
Background
From the 18th century onward, European influences were introduced into Ottoman architecture as the Ottoman Empire itself became more open to outside influences. During this period, the most predominant architectural style in Western Europe was the Baroque. In an Ottoman context, the term “Baroque” is sometimes applied more widely to Ottoman art and architecture across the 18th century including the Tulip Period. In more specific terms, however, the period after the 17th century is marked by several different styles. The Ottoman or Turkish "Baroque" style emerged in its full expression during the 1740s and rapidly replaced the style of the Tulip Period. This shift signaled the final end to the previous classical style which had dominated Ottoman architecture in the 16th and 17th centuries.The political and cultural conditions which led to the Ottoman Baroque trace their origins in part to the Tulip Period, during the reign of Ahmed III, when the Ottoman ruling class opened itself to Western influence. After the Tulip Period, Ottoman architecture openly imitated European architecture, so that architectural and decorative trends in Europe were mirrored in the Ottoman Empire at the same time or after a short delay. Changes were especially evident in the ornamentation and details of new buildings rather than in their overall forms, though new building types were eventually introduced from European influences as well. The term "Turkish Rococo", or simply "Rococo", is also used to describe the Ottoman Baroque, or parts of it, due to the similarities and influences from the French Rococo style in particular, but this terminology varies from author to author.
Developments
First Baroque monuments (1740s)
The first structures to exhibit the new Baroque style are several fountains and sebils built by elite patrons in Istanbul in 1741–1742: the fountain of Nisançı Ahmed Pasha added to the southwest wall of the Fatih Mosque cemetery, the Hacı Mehmet Emin Ağa Sebil near Dolmabahçe, and the Sa'deddin Efendi Sebil at the Karaca Ahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar. The Baroque-style Cağaloğlu Hamam in Istanbul was also built in the same year and was sponsored by Mahmud I, demonstrating that even the sultan promoted the style. The revenues of this hammam were earmarked for the Hagia Sophia Mosque, where Mahmud I built several new annexes and additions. These additions included a domed ablutions fountain in 1740–41 that is decorated with Baroque motifs but still maintains a traditional Ottoman form overall. More indicative of the new style is the imaret that Mahmud I added in the northeastern corner of Hagia Sophia's precinct in 1743. The imaret has an extravagantly Baroque gate which is carved with high-relief vegetal scrolls and a spiralling "swan-neck" pediment, flanked by marble columns with Corinthian-like capitals, and surmounted by wide eaves.Godfrey Goodwin, a scholar of Ottoman architectural history, suggests that the külliye which most clearly demonstrates the transition between the old and new styles was the Beşir Ağa Mosque and its sebil, built in 1745 near the western perimeter of Topkapı Palace. Scholar Doğan Kuban states that Baroque motifs spread gradually from one architectural element to another, progressively replacing the sharper geometric decoration of the classical era with more dynamic curved forms such as the "S" and "C" curves and eventually with even more flamboyant European Baroque elements. Ünver Rüstem argues that the rapidity with which the style appeared across Istanbul after 1740 and the fact that the first Baroque structures were all commissioned by high-ranking elites should be interpreted as a deliberate effort by the sultan and his court to promote the new style.
The Nuruosmaniye complex
The most important monument heralding the new Ottoman Baroque style is the Nuruosmaniye Mosque complex, begun by Mahmud I in October 1748 and completed by his successor, Osman III, in December 1755. Kuban describes it as the "most important monumental construction after the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne", marking the integration of European culture into Ottoman architecture and the rejection of the classical Ottoman style. It also marked the first time since the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque that an Ottoman sultan built his own imperial mosque complex in Istanbul, thus inaugurating the return of this tradition. Historical sources attest that the architect in charge was a Christian master carpenter named Simeon or Simon. Simeon's chief assistant was a Christian man named Kozma and the majority of the stonemasons under him were Christians as well. Both Simeon and Kozma were given robes of honour by the grand vizier at the mosque's opening ceremony. Ünver Rüstem notes this may have been the first time Christian architects were officially honoured in this fashion at the inauguration of a mosque and that it reflected the growing status of Christian craftsmen during this era.The mosque consists of a square prayer hall surmounted by a large single dome with pendentives. The dome is one of the largest in Istanbul, measuring 25.75 meters in diameter. From the outside, the dome sits above four huge arches pierced with many windows that provide light to the interior. The closest precedent to this design in classical Ottoman architecture is the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in the Edirnekapi neighbourhood. The projecting apse which contains the mihrab is also comparable to the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.
The details and decoration of the mosque are firmly Baroque. For example, the curving pediments above the exterior arches have concave flourishes at their edges, while the windows, doorways, and arches of the mosque have mixtilinear or round profiles instead of pointed arch profiles. The central doorway of the courtyard is topped by an unusual radiating sun motif carved in stone while the other doorways have pyramidal semi-vaults which, instead of the traditional muqarnas, are carved with many rows of acanthus-like friezes and other motifs – a composition that is neither Ottoman nor European in style. Even more unusual is the form of the mosque's courtyard, which is semielliptical instead of the traditional rectangular form.
Inside, the mosque's prayer hall is flanked by symmetrical two-story galleries that extend outside the main perimeter of the hall. The corners of these galleries, on either side of the mihrab area, include space for the muezzins on one side and for the sultan's loge on the other, thus dispensing with the traditional müezzin mahfili platform in the middle of the mosque. This gallery arrangement leaves the central space unencumbered while still dissimulating the supporting piers of the dome. The most exuberant Baroque carvings, such as flutes and scroll forms, are found on the minbar. The hood of the mihrab, like the semi-vaults above the exterior doorways, is carved with a mix of eclectic friezes that replace the traditional muqarnas. The mosque's stone decoration also establishes a new style of capitals that distinguishes the Ottoman Baroque: a vase or inverse bell shape, either plain or decorated, usually with small but prominent volutes at its corners, similar to Ionic capitals.
Like earlier imperial foundations, the mosque formed the center of a complex consisting of several buildings including a madrasa, an imaret, a library, a royal tomb, a sebil and fountain, and an imperial pavilion, most of which are equally Baroque. The sebil and fountain that flank the western gate of the complex have curved and flamboyant forms counterbalanced by the plain walls around them, which Goodwin calls the "epitome of the baroque" style for these features. The library in the northeastern corner is distinguished by undulating curves and a roughly elliptical interior. The tomb, which houses the remains of Şehsuvar Sultan, has ornate moldings and concave cornices.
At the eastern corner of the mosque is an L-shaped structured which consists of a covered ramp leading to an imperial pavilion. This kind of feature first appeared in the 17th century with the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque and was further exemplified by the Hünkâr Kasrı of the New Mosque in Eminönü. At the Nuruosmaniye, however, this pavilion is more detailed, more prominent, and more deliberately integrated into the rest of the complex. It was used as a private lounge or reception area for the sultan when visiting the mosque and gave him direct access to the sultan's loge inside the mosque. Because such imperial pavilions were closer to the public eye than the imperial palace, they played a role in enhancing the sultan's public presence and in staging some public ceremonies. Accordingly, the construction of imperial pavilions as part of imperial mosques aligned itself with the cultural shift taking place in the 18th century around the sultan's official displays of power, and such imperial pavilions became ever more prominent in later imperial mosques.
Reign of Mustafa III
, successor of Osman II and a son of Ahmed III, engaged in many building activities during his long reign. His first foundation was the Ayazma Mosque in Üsküdar in honour of his mother. Construction began in 1757–1758 and finished in 1760–1761. It is essentially a smaller version of the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, signalling the importance of the Nuruosmaniye as a new model to emulate. It is richly decorated with Baroque carved stonework, especially in the mihrab and minbar. While the mosque is smaller than the Nuruosmaniye, it is relatively tall for its proportions, enhancing its sense of height. This trend towards height was pursued in later mosques such as the Nusretiye Mosque. The Ayazma Mosque differs from others mainly in the unique arrangement of its front façade, which consists of a five-arched portico reached by a wide semi-circular staircase. This arrangement is similar to another contemporary mosque built in Aydın in 1756, the Cihanoğlu Mosque. The latter is also an example of Baroque elements appearing outside Istanbul in the mid century. One minor detail of the Ayazma Mosque that was recurrent in the 18th century is the small birdhouse carved in stone on the exterior. Such birdhouses were made in the preceding century but in the Baroque period they become more ornate and are commonly attached to the exteriors of both religious and civil buildings.Mustafa III's own imperial mosque was built in the center of Istanbul and is known as the Laleli Mosque. Its construction began in 1760 and finished in 1764. Its architect was Mehmed Tahir Agha. Due to the sultan's personal wishes, its form is based on that of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, consisting of a main dome supported by eight piers and four corner semi-domes, thus differing significantly from the Nuruosmaniye's design. However, unlike the Selimiye Mosque, the piers are more slender and are mostly integrated directly into the walls. The mosque's courtyard is rectangular again, leaving the Nuruosmaniye's semi-elliptical courtyard as an experiment that was not repeated. The decoration is also firmly Baroque, with Ionic-like capitals, round and mixtilinear arches, a mihrab similar to the Nuruosmaniye's, and other Baroque motifs. The result is a mosque that incorporates the visual style of the Nuruosmaniye in a more restrained way and integrates it more closely with traditional Ottoman architecture.
The Laleli Mosque is surrounded by the usual annexes: imperial pavilion, sebil, madrasa, imaret and the tomb of Mustafa III. More unique, though, is the large artificial platform on which the mosque stands. The substructure of this platform contains a vaulted hall that was originally used as a storehouse and is now occupied by a market. The complex also includes a caravanserai, the Çukurçeşme Han or Taş Han, which contributed to the mosque's revenues. Mustafa III also built another caravanserai, the Büyük Yeni Han, at around the same time in the city's central commercial district. It is Istanbul's second-largest caravanserai. Both caravanserais are centred around long rectangular courtyards, which was a trend for these types of buildings in this period.
The Laleli Mosque is also notable for its apparent Byzantine influences. The walls of the mosque's exterior and the walls of its courtyard are constructed in alternating layers of white stone and red brick. This technique was used in early Ottoman constructions but it was largely absent in the later imperial mosques of Istanbul. Along with the use of coloured marble decoration inside the mosque, this feature may have been a deliberate callback to the city's ancient Byzantine monuments. This "Byzantinising" trend was not commonplace but did occur in other monuments during the Baroque period. For example, the Mosque of Zeyneb Sultan, built in 1769, exhibits an even stronger Byzantine appearance. According to Ünver Rüstem, this phenomenon may reflect a certain introspection among Ottoman architects of the time about the city's past and about the connection between Ottoman architecture and Byzantine architecture. This was abetted by the fact that some Baroque motifs evoked forms and motifs that are also found in Byzantine architecture, including the Hagia Sophia.
A sense of historical consciousness or historicism in Ottoman architecture of the time may be also evident in Mustafa III's reconstruction of the Fatih Mosque after the 1766 earthquake that partially destroyed it. The new Fatih Mosque was completed in 1771 and it neither reproduced the appearance of the original 15th-century building nor followed the contemporary Baroque style. It was instead built in a Classical Ottoman style modelled on the 16th-century Şehzade Mosque built by Sinan – whose design had in turn been repeated in major 17th-century mosques like the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque and the New Mosque. This probably indicates that contemporary builders saw the new Baroque style as inappropriate for the appearance of an ancient mosque embedded in the mythology of the city's 1453 conquest. At the same time, it showed that Sinan's architecture was associated with the Ottoman golden age and thus appeared as an appropriate model to imitate, despite the anachronism. By contrast, however, the nearby tomb of Mehmed II, which was rebuilt at the same time, is in a fully Baroque style.