Tile lunette over the minaret door in the portico and circular panel.
The art of tiles is the most striking of all the decorative elements employed in both the interiors and exteriors of Turkish architectural monuments, and found a very wide field of application in the various monuments in Istanbul. In the sixteenth century in particular, when the art reached a particularly high level of attainment on a par with the splendour and magnificence of the Ottoman Empire of that time, it added significant colour to both the interiors and exteriors of buildings as the branch of decorative art most in keeping with the architecture of the period. This significance was further enhanced and intensified by a restraint in the use of tile decoration which, far from in any way reducing the primacy of the architecture, actually enriched the architectural forms.
This distinctive feature is well displayed by the tiles in the Hadım İbrahim
Mosque at Silivrikapi, an elegant example of Sinan’s architectural work. In the interior, tiles are to be found used only in the pediment over the mihrab, while on the exterior they are used only in the lunettes over the windows and the minaret door in the portico. In this mosque, which occupies an important place in the history of Ottoman architecture, the interior has been invested with a monumental quality by resting the dome on wall-piers, thus foreshadowing the later eight-pier mosques.
Ibrahim Paşa, the founder of the mosque, had risen from the position of Chief Eunuch in the Saray to occupy the posts of Governor of Anatolia and Rumelia and of Vizier in the Council of State. The secular and religious monuments he erected in both Anatolia and Rumelia show him to have been a man of great philanthropy. The deed of trust dated 1560 for the mosque at Silivrikapi and other benefactions is preserved in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. According to the date inscription written by poet Kandi over the door of the courtyard opening towards Silivrikapi, the mosque was built in 1551. There is another inscription by the poet also giving the date of the construction over the entrance door into the mosque.
In this work, Sinan consciously adopted a type of plan that he was later to apply in mosques built on the eight pier system, and thus produced a model for future development. The interior of the mosque is roofed by a dome 11.50 m in diameter. The transition to the dome is effected by grooved squinches. The weight of the dome is skilfully supported by eight piers.
In the various studies so far published, very different technical features are attributed to the tiles in the Hadim Ibrahim Pasa Mosque. One study describes them as examples of mosaic, while another refers to them as examples of colour glaze technique. The tiles are quite rightly described as being produced
by an underglaze technique, but they are further referred to as belonging to an advanced phase in the development of blue and white tiles. Our own investiga tions have shown that the tile decoration possesses some very special features. The use of colour in particular warrants a more detailed study. The tile pediment over the mihrab in the mosque is of particular importance. It is 2.7 m wide, with square tiles rather larger than the normal type of square tile, each side measuring 45 cm. These tiles are made from a white clay, to which a glossy, transparent coloured glaze has been applied. They are decorated with an intricately interlaced pattern of delicate roumi motifs on a
Tile lunette over the mihrab.
dark blue ground. The rounds have interwoven stems issuing from a large palmette hanging downwards right in the centre of the top of the pediment, and twine outwards towards each side to form a highly complicated decorative pattern over a ground of spiral stems. The white roumis have purple fillings. On the ground is placed a turquoise cartouche with an olive green contour. On the turquoise ground of the cartouche there is a verse from the Qu’ran in dark blue Thuluth script: «Kale AUahu
Teala: ‘Kullema dahale aleyha Zekeriyya cl-mihrab’ » (III/37).
In the intervals are scattered flowers with small petals and very slender stems. In the centre, at the very bottom, there is a Chinese cloud motif with the stem of a small stylized flower emerging from it on each side. The pediment is
surrounded by a long border with round rings, containing flowers on slender black boughs on a turquoise ground. The olive green contour surrounding the turquoise cartouche is of particular interest. In so far as this olive green forms a characteristic feature of the group of Iznik tiles know as Damascus ware.
The tile decoration in the portico on the exterior of the building is of very special importance. The tile lunettes over the minaret door measures
1.10x0.61 m. The tiles of which it is composed vary in size, but generally range from 28.4 x 34 cm to 30 X 30 cm. These tiles are decorated in underglaze, with white Thuluth lettering on a dark blue ground. The inscription consists of a verse from the Qu’ran: «Selamun aleykum tibtum fedhuluha halidin.»
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(XXXIX/73). The letters have turquoise fillings. The brush strokes on the dark blue ground against which the inscription is set present a moiré appearance. This ground is indigo in colour and is strewn with tiny leaves and petals. At the top of the lunette there is a knot with two small round motifs issuing from it. The knot has a turquoise filling, while the white roumis generally have a filling of olive green. The end of the letter ‘dal’ in the corner of the lunette ends in a very lovely turquoise round with a mauve filling. The lunette is surrounded by a narrow border consisting of small
roumis sprouting from a slender black
stem on a turquoise ground.
A circular hollow with a round moulding has been opened in the stone wall immediately above the lunette, and into this has been inserted a round tile panel produced by joining two separate semi-circular panels. On the indigo moiré ground, on which the brush strokes are clearly apparent, there is a circular composition in harmony with the shape of the panel, made up of repeated words in white Thuluth lettering. The inscription reads: «Ya Hcnnan Ya
Mennan». The ends of the letters are
elongated and intersect to form a pattern around a small turquoise rosette set exactly in the centre. Apart from this, a thin white band is twisted into triple knots, thus composing a circle
emphasising the points of intersection of the letters, and presenting a very fine example of musenna writing. The design in the centre has a turquoise filling. There are also small turquoise rosettes set in the empty spaces. The round tile panel is surrounded by a narrow turquoise band.
The lunette over the window opening into the mosque in this section of the portico is no longer in situ, this part of the wall having been removed to make way for an upper window opening into the gallery dated 1763/64, thus spoiling the symmetry of the facade. But by a remarkable coincidence I was able to discover the original tile lunette during a visit to the Museum of Art and Architecture. My attention happened to be caught by a tile lunette leaning against the wall which displayed a remarkable resemblance in both technique and decoration to the other lunettes in the portico of the Hadim ibrahim Pasa Mosque. I was told by Mrs. Sennur Aydin, the present curator of the museum, that she had found the fragements of this lunette in the museum store-room, and had put them together herself. She did not, however, know where the lunette originally belonged, there being no entry in the museum records referring to these fragments. I have since proved that this lunette, which is now exhibited in the museum under Inv. No. 1054, is the one removed from its place in the portico of the Silivrikapi Hadim Ibrahim Pasa Mosque to make way for the new window.
The lunette measures 1.43x0.76 m, with tiles of 29.5 x 2 9 .5 cm and
34 x 29 cm. There is an inscription in white Thuluth lettering on an indigo ground. Some of the letters have turquoise fillings, and the inscription displays a highly successful composition with some of the letters intersecting one another. The bottom right hand corner of the lunette is occupied by two small purple tulips with double turquoise leaves. The bottom of the lunette also contains an elegantly curved turquoise leaf with purple filling on a slender stem. The lunette is surrounded by a narrow border of small, black six- petalled rosettes on a turquoise ground. The centres of the rosettes contain purple dots. The two small tulips decorating the ground of the lunette seem to be emerging from the outer border. The inscription reads: «Kale Resul Allah
salla Allah aleyhi ve sellem: el-muminu fi’l mescid-i kesscmeki fi’l-mai».
Investigations carried out in this section of the facade have shown that as far as the dimensions are concerned, the lunette must have fitted in here exactly,
Tile lunette in the tomb ot Şehzade Mehmet in Istanbul.
Tile lunette on the other side of the portico and circular panel.
while as far as the colours, techniques and decoration employed are concerned it is absolutely identical with the other lunettes.
That the fragments of the lunette should have been preserved right up to the present day is an encouraging indication of our interest and concern for the conservation of works of art.
The other section of the portico preserves its original form. The lunette over the first window opening into the interior measures 1.10x0.61 m, being thus identical in size with the lunette over the door of the minaret. The tiles measure 30 x 30 cm or 34 x 28.4 cm. This lunette contains an inscription in white Thuluth lettering on an indigo moiré ground. The letters have turquoise fillings. The inscription consists of a verse from the Qu’ran:
«Selamun Aleykum bima sabertum feni’ma’ukba’d-dari». The ground is
strewn with tiny turquoise leaves, together with sylized flowers and rosettes on slender stems with purple and cobalt blue centres. This lunette resembles the one over the door of the minaret in having a narrow border with roumi motifs sprouting from a slender black stem winding over a turquoise ground.
Immediately over the top of the lunette there is a hollow in the wall surrounded
Tile lunette in the museum.
by a circular moulding into which a round tile panel made up of two semicircular tiles has been inserted. This contains an ornate inscription in white Thuluth lettering on a dark blue ground. The inscription reads: «Ya Safi
Ya Kafi Ya Mugni». The letters are
decorated with, knots with turquoise fillings. In the middle there is a turquoise rosette with a purple centre. The round panel is encircled by a narrow turquoise band.
The lunette over the window opening into the mosque on the other side of the
mihrab niche in this section of the portico
is of very special significance as regards the Turkish art of tiles, and is somewhat larger than the others, measuring
1.48x0.76 m. The tiles measure 3 4 x 2 9 .5 cm and 29.5x29.5 cm, and are produced in the underglaze technique. The ground is dark blue with the brush strokes clearly apparent. The lunette contains the inscription: «El munafiku
fi’l-mescidi ke’t-tayri fi’l-kafesi, Sedeka Resul Allah», with turquoise Thuluth
letters on a white ground. Purple carnations and tulips of a naturalistic character with turquoise leaves and stems scattered here and there in the spaces between the letters. The bottom left hand corner is occupied by a turquoise roumi motif with a purple centre on a winding stem. The lunette is surrounded by a narrow border of small black six-petalled rosettes on a turquoise ground. Some of the centres of the rosettes are cobalt blue, others contain purple dots. The whole bears a very close resemblance to the lunette in the museum.
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The tiles in the Hadım Ibrahim Paşa Mosque, which we have attempted to describe in as great detail as possible, possess very important features from the point of view of Ottoman tile
manufacture. The olive green surrounding the turquoise cartouche containing the inscription to be found in the pediment over the mihrab in the interior of the building is typical of the type of İznik tile known as «Damascus ware». This colour is also to be found in the lunettes on the exterior of the mosque. Purple, cobalt blue and turquoise are also characteristic of this type of tile. These tiles are rarely to be found used on walls because of the rather melancholy nature of the colours employed, but excavations carried out in İznik have yielded a number of fragments of household ceramics displaying these colours. Tiles with these colours in underglaze are to be found only in the
Yeni Kaplica baths in Bursa built by
Rüstem Paşa. In contrast to the coarse tiles with crazed glaze to be seen in the buildings in Damascus, these display meticulously executed design and colour under a very fine, glossy, transparent glaze.
They also display important features as regards design. The fact that the borders surrounding the lunettes in the form of a narrow band are placed on the tiles forming the ground shows that the tile panel was prepared as a single whole for the position it was intended to occupy. At the same time, the elegantly composed inscriptions constitute
outstanding examples of Turkish calligraphy. The plant motifs, while on
the one hand continuing the tradition of roumi, palmette and abstract hatayi motifs, also include naturalistic renderings of tulips and carnations to be seen in two of the lunettes. These flowers of a naturalistic character, which have earned the name of «Turkish flowers» on account of their use in almost every branch of Ottoman decoration, are to be found employed more and more commonly and in greater and greater profusion from the middle of the sixteenth century onwards. The value and significance of these lunettes are greatly enhanced by the fact that they belong to a building dated 1551 and that they are thus among the first recorded examples of underglaze technique. The only other recorded example of a tulip in coloured glaze technique is to be found in the tomb of Şehzade Mehmet in Istanbul dated 1548. The tulip in the lunette in the
Hadım Ibrahim Paşa Mosque is in underglaze technique. The purple colour employed in the tulip and
carnation is a fore-runner of the crimson which is later to be seen employed in
underglaze. The value of these tiles is still further increased by their constituting the first examples in the art of tile manufacture in the naturalistic style developed by Muzehhip (Gilder) Kara Memi, the nakkaşbaşı (head painter) of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Apart from the quality of its tiles, the Hadım Ibrahim Paşa Mosque is of particular importance as the only example in Ottoman architecture of a facade arrangement in which the tile panels are actually inserted into the stone surface.
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