THE BOOK OF RÜSTEM PAŞA TILES
ISBN 978-975-7528-81-4
Fatih Cimok (editor), 64 pp, 23 x 23 cm,
60 colour pictures, available in English,
retail price in Turkey € 25.00.
This small mosque, which was completed in 1561 for Rüstem Paşa, a grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent, houses one of the richest collection of underglaze polychrome İznik tile revetments in İstanbul.
The revetment tiles in the Mosque of Rüstem Paşa are generally acknowledged as an outstanding example of the unique richness and superb artistic achievement characteristic of the era of Süleyman the Magnificent. Representing an ostentatious culmination of centuries of evolution in the art of ceramics and tiles, the Rüstem Paşa tile revetments also reflect the perfection of ceramic art at a particular stage of its development. Their lavish employment in this monument may show that Sinan, Sultan Süleyman's chief architect who built the mosque, had not yet decided how to use this new medium in architecture. In his other monuments, he appeared to use underglaze polychrome tiles more economically. The unusual number of motifs encountered in the mosque also points out that neither the decorators nor the architect had decided what designs to favor.
ISBN 978-975-7528-81-4
Fatih Cimok (editor), 64 pp, 23 x 23 cm,
60 colour pictures, available in English,
retail price in Turkey € 25.00.
This small mosque, which was completed in 1561 for Rüstem Paşa, a grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent, houses one of the richest collection of underglaze polychrome İznik tile revetments in İstanbul.
The revetment tiles in the Mosque of Rüstem Paşa are generally acknowledged as an outstanding example of the unique richness and superb artistic achievement characteristic of the era of Süleyman the Magnificent. Representing an ostentatious culmination of centuries of evolution in the art of ceramics and tiles, the Rüstem Paşa tile revetments also reflect the perfection of ceramic art at a particular stage of its development. Their lavish employment in this monument may show that Sinan, Sultan Süleyman's chief architect who built the mosque, had not yet decided how to use this new medium in architecture. In his other monuments, he appeared to use underglaze polychrome tiles more economically. The unusual number of motifs encountered in the mosque also points out that neither the decorators nor the architect had decided what designs to favor.