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Links between Paintingand Photography in

Nineteenth-Century Turkey

Pelin Sahin Tekinalp

It is well known that engravings were used by artists as models for their paintings.Another visual source employed by painters was the photograph. This occurred inTurkey after photography was introduced into Ottoman territories as a result ofvisits made by Europeans to the Ottoman states. In addition, courses on photo-graphy were added to the curricula of the schools. Although photography wasinitially received negatively by the public, the positive attitude of the OttomanSultans determined the popularity and acceptance of this branch of art. The intro-duction of photography and its adoption by the Istanbul public occurred first duringthe reign of Sultan Abdulmecid (1839–1861). Sultans Abdulaziz (1861–1876) andAbdulhamid II (1876–1909) played significant roles in the development of Ottomanphotography. In addition, Abdulhamid II appointed photographers to documentthe events, institutions and structures in the empire and had around 800 photographalbums prepared. In these albums important settlements, structures and gardens ofthe period are documented. In wall paintings and in paintings on canvas, photo-graphs were notably used as sources.

Keywords: Ottoman wall paintings, Ottoman photography, nineteenth-century

Turkey, Abdulmecid (1839–1861), Abdulaziz (1861–1876), Abdulhamid II (1876–1909),

Abdullah Freres/Vhichen (1820–1902), Hovsep (1830–1908), Kevork (1839–1918)

Abdullah

The loss of power in the Ottoman Empire as a result of military defeats it had suffered

one after another marks the beginning of the so-called ‘Decline Period’. Formerly an

international power imposing respect from all other states, it had to face this new

period due to economic crisis and deficiencies in all domains, among which educa-

tion comes in the first place. Especially after the defeats brought about by the Treaty

of Karlowitz in 1699 and the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, it was seen that certain

initiatives to restore its former power were necessary, and this led to the planning of

reforms primarily in the military domain.1 It is testified in various sources that the

Ottoman State did not content itself with seeking the help of foreign experts in the

military domain: books were brought from the Paris Academy of Sciences to be

translated in order to pursue innovations in fields such as medicine and astronomy.

The beginning of the nineteenth century was a period in which it was recognised

that the success of the reforms required that they not be confined to the military

domain. Although changes in all spheres were effected, education was given priority.

Besides ensuring the emergence of a military class that was well educated by western

standards, the military schools also had a significant role in the artistic milieu due to

the painting classes and, later, photography classes offered in these schools. The

1 – Bernard Lewis, Modern Turkiye’nin

Dogusu, Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu

Basımevi 1984, 46.

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transition in this period from book illumination to wall painting, and then to

painting on canvas, was a process that proved to be uneasy for Ottoman art.

With the introduction of the printing press into the Ottoman lands in the

eighteenth century and subsequent improvements in printing techniques, the pro-

duction of traditional illuminated manuscripts decreased and new forms of painting

emerged. It is noteworthy that European Baroque and Rococo decorations of the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were adopted in Ottoman lands, especially in

the ornamental schemes, and traditional mural decorations gave way to wall paint-

ing. Eighteenth-century landscapes and still-life paintings, which were painted in

baroque cartouches by using the traditional technique and applying root dyes mixed

with white glue on plaster or wood, were replaced by oil painting in the second half of

the nineteenth century. Although the customary approach, involving a care for

elaborate details found in traditional miniature paintings, was initially maintained,

the techniques used in wall paintings were not much different from paintings on

canvas in the nineteenth century. Experiments in western painting techniques with

optical perspective and chiaroscuro effects can also be observed in these wall paint-

ings. When wall paintings are investigated, it is seen that the artists particularly

preferred landscapes with western forms. The human figure appeared in wall paint-

ings only after the second half of the nineteenth century and as a silhouette. It took

time for the Ottoman artist to obtain the knowledge of anatomy required for

painting the human figure and to find the opportunity to study the live model.2

That the reformmovements were made first in the military domain had a parallel

reflection in the development of painting on canvas. Technical drawing lessons at the

Imperial Naval Engineering School, founded in 1773, served as a starting point for

the art of painting.3 The inclusion of drawing classes in the curriculum of the

Imperial Military Engineering School (Muhendishane-i Berrı-i Humayun), established

in 1795,4 and at the School of Military Sciences (Mekteb-i Funun-u Harbiye-i

Sahane), founded in 1835, were significant steps in this direction.5 The aim of

these classes was not to train artists but to enable students to create technical

drawings and plans for military purposes.

When Turkish painting is examined from the perspective of nineteenth-century

developments, the use of photography attracts attention. An examination of the

paintings reveals that experiments with western techniques were made and that

photography was a leading source for both canvas painting and wall painting.

Shortly after the introduction of photography by the French Academy of Sciences

in August 1839, the Ottoman Empire was informed of this new invention by an article

published on 28 October 1839 in the newspaper Takvim-i Vekayi. Later, in the forty-

seventh issue of Ceride-i Havadis, another newspaper, the camera produced by

Daguerre for commercial purposes was publicised. Photography was introduced to

the Ottomans through the French, who brought the daguerreotype to the lands of the

Empire. InOctober 1839, the French painter Horace Vernet, his nephewCharlesMarie

Bouton and daguerreotypist Fre�de�ric Goupil Fesquet set out from Marseilles. After

having stopped at Syria, Alexandria, Cairo, the Sinai, Palestine, Tyre, Saidon, Deir Al

Kamar, Damascus, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Beirut and Baalbeck, they arrived in Izmir in

1840. Thus, the first photographs taken in the Ottoman lands are views of Izmir.

Following these photographs, many European explorers, travellers and artists visited

important settlements such as Istanbul, Izmir and Ephesus with their cameras.6

Another significant factor contributing to the popularity of the new medium in

the Ottoman Empire was the introduction of photography classes into the curricu-

lum of the Imperial Military Engineering School. The increasing importance of

documentary photography, pioneered by James Robertson in the 1850s, had a

significant role in this popularity. After these developments, European photogra-

phers followed the lead of the Venetian photographer Carlo Naya and opened

studios in Istanbul. Ottoman nationals like Basil Kargopoulo and the Abdullah

Freres were among these photographers.7 In this way, photography became popular

as a profession. In the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslim subjects had a particular

2 – Gunsel Renda, ‘Resim ve Heykel’,

Osmanlı Uygarlıgı, vol. 2, ed. Gunsel Renda

and Halil _Inalcık, Ankara: T.C. Kultur

Bakanlıgı Yayını 2002, 935–9.

3 – Emre Dolen, ‘Muhendislik Egitimi’,

Tanzimat’tan Cumhuriyet’e Turkiye

Ansiklopedisi, vol. 4, _Istanbul: _Iletisim

Yayınları 1985, 511.

4 – Yagmur Say, Top ve Topculugun Gelis imi

ve Muhendishane-i Berrı-i Humayun,_Istanbul: Topcu ve Fuze Okulu Matbaası

1995, 39.

5 – Nuzhet _Islimyeli, Asker Ressamlar ve

Ekoller, Ankara: Asker Ressamlar Sanat

Dernegi Yayını 1 1965, 11; Mustafa Cezar,

Sanatta Batıya Acılıs ve Osman Hamdi,_Istanbul: Erol Kerim Aksoy Kultur, Egitim,

Spor ve Saglik Vakfı Yayını, no. 1 (1995),

377.

6 – Engin Ozendes, Abdullah Freres. Osmanlı

Sarayının Fotografcıları, _Istanbul: Yapı Kredi

Yayınları 1998, 13–15.

7 – Ibid, 16.

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affinity toward photography. Particularly for Armenians, who worked as pharma-

cists and chemists, it was not difficult to learn the daguerreotype techniques, which

required knowledge of chemistry. While some Armenian students were being trained

in arts in Murad-Raphaelian’s school in Venice, others preferred to receive appren-

ticeship training in Armenian photography studios.8 Apart from Ottoman

Armenians, Ottoman Greeks and Levantines were also interested in photography.

Although photography, like other western art forms, was initially received nega-

tively by the public, the positive attitude of the Ottoman Sultans toward photography

determined the popularity and acceptance of this branch of art. The introduction of

photography and its adoption by the Istanbul public occurred during the reign of

Sultan Abdulmecid. During this period, photographs were taken for books that were

initially prepared for different personal preferences. Ernest Caranza prepared two

albums in 1852 and 1854, when Istanbul was photographed in a systematic fashion

for the first time, and gained the title of ‘official photographer’ after having presented

these albums to the Sultan.9 After the 1860s, the travel book approach was abandoned.

Sultans Abdulaziz and Abdulhamid II played significant roles in the development of

the Ottoman photography. Sultan Abdulaziz had his photograph taken by the

Abdullah Brothers and ordered it to be distributed as his official portrait. By rewarding

the Abdullah Freres with the title ‘Imperial Painter’ (Ressam-ı Hazret-i Sehriyarı), the

Sultan showed that he appreciated their photographs and valued photography. During

the reign of Abdulhamid II, photographers captured all kinds of events, ranging from

the construction of the railroads and important buildings to captured bandits, the

painting collection of the palace and various inaugurations.10 Thus, about 800 albums

were prepared, among which the most renowned are the Yıldız Photograph Albums.11

In these albums, landscapes taken inmany different cities of the world, bothwithin and

outside the Ottoman borders, were included, in addition to those taken in Istanbul.

When the artistic milieu of the second half of the nineteenth century is exam-

ined, the parallel development of all branches of art is strikingly evident. Wall

paintings had emerged in the second half of the eighteenth century as a new form,

and a century later with the introduction of oil painting techniques they displayed

many resemblances to western paintings on canvas. In addition, in wall painting and

in painting on canvas, photographs were notably used as sources.

Many wall paintings were identified as having been studied from photographs

when the Yıldız Albums were carefully studied. Particularly in the depiction of

buildings that were pictured in fine detail, photographs were used as models. In

this respect, a group of paintings to be found in the buildings of Yıldız Palace, and

especially those in the Sale (Chalet) Kiosk, are prominent examples. It is generally

understood that the two large-scale paintings on the ceiling of the Yellow Hall in the

Sale Kiosk were studied from photography. The YellowHall, also known as Hall 25, is

one of the elaborately designed great halls with rococo ornamentation, yellowHereke

carpet and Louis XV furniture, and reflects its splendour in the paintings found in it.

The painting depicting the Tent (cadır) Kiosk in Kagıthane and a photograph taken

by Abdullah Freres in 1890 have identical perspectives (figures 1 and 2). In addition,

the depiction of the pond in front of the building is the same; even the direction of

water movement in the pond and the shadows of the trees are captured identically. A

significant difference is the replacement of the photograph’s human figures in front

of the kiosk with the ducks in the pond seen in the painting. The Abdullah Freres

were among the leading artists and photographers of their time.12 For the purpose of

improving themselves and keeping up with novelties in their field, they maintained

connections with Europe. With the studios they opened and the work they per-

formed, their fame reached the palace, and when Sultan Abdulaziz was satisfied with

a portrait they took of him, the photograph was declared the official portrait of the

sultan. Thus, the connections of Abdullah brothers with the palace were established.13

As a result, a great number of the photographs that were used as sources for both

canvas and wall paintings were taken by the Abdullah Freres.14

8 – Ibid, 29.

9 – Engin Cizgen and G. Beaugue�, Images

D’Empire; Aux origines de la photographie en

Turquie/Turkiye’de Fotografın Onculeri,_Istanbul: Osmanlı Bankası ve Fransız Kultur

Merkezi 1996, 253–4.

10 – Ozendes, Abdullah Freres, 77–8.

11 – Sultan Abdulhamid II assigned officers

to photograph buildings, schools, military

units, goverment offices, palaces, etc. The

Yıldız Albums of Sultan Abdulhamid II are

formed from approximately 35,000

photographs. These photographs were

duplicated. The Research Centre for Islamic

History, Art and Culture obtained one copy

and the other copy was given to the library of_Istanbul University.

12 – Their names were Vhichen (1820–1902),

Hovsep (1830–1908) and Kevork (1839–

1918) Abdullah. Eldest Frere Vhichen began

his photographic career touching up

photographs at the studio opened by Rabach

in _Istanbul in 1856. When his brother Kevork

returned from studying at the Murad

Raphelyan School in Venice in 1858, together

with third brother Hovsep, they took over

Rabach’s studio, which became known as

Abdullah Fre�res. They were masters at both

studio and outdoor photography. See

Ozendes, Abdullah Freres, 29–33.

13 – Ibid., 31–9.

14 – The photographs that were used as

sources for canvas paintings discussed by

Coker. See Adnan Coker, ‘ Fotograftan

Resim ve Darussafakalı Ressamlar’, Yeni

Boyut 9 (1983), 4–12.When we examined the

photograph albums, the photographs also

used as the source of wall paintings were

identified. Although we obtained the links

between approximately thirty photographs

and paintings, we selected six samples for

this article.

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Besides small-scale paintings with figures, a view from Kagıthane, an important

location for the Empire, is a feature of this room. The fondness in this period for

French palaces and garden arrangements is reflected in the Sa’dabad Kiosk, which

was obviously inspired by these buildings. The Kagıthane region constituted a

symbol for the beginnings of the appropriation of the pond and water architecture

by the Ottoman architectural tradition as a part of the reform movements. The fact

that an image of Kagıthane was painted shows the importance of this region. In the

painting, the Caglayan and the Cadır (Tent) Kiosk,15 which is adjacent to it, are

depicted. The former was built in place of the Sa’dabad Palace and the Kasr-ı Nesad,

which were destroyed during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II. The Yellow Hall

belongs to the second stage of construction of the Sale Kiosk dated to 1889. The

photographs of Kagıthane are dated to 1890; therefore, they must have been docu-

mented within a year after the Yellow Hall was finished and used a source for

paintings. It seems that the decision to depict Kagıthane in this hall was a conscious

one, since it was a significant example of the new taste in architecture. For this

purpose, the Abdullah Freres must have been assigned to capture photographs of this

area after the completion of the Yellow Hall so that the photographs could be used in

the decoration of the hall.

Figure 1. Kagıthane, one of the wall

paintings in the Yellow Hall in Sale Kiosk in

Yıldız Palace.

Figure 2. Abdullah Freres, Kagıthane,

ca. 1890. Engin Ozendes, Abdullah Freres

Osmanlı Sarayının Fotografcıları, _Istanbul:

Yapı Kredi Yayınları 1998, 32.

15 – Semavi Eyice, Cadır Kos ku, in Dunden

bugune _Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol. 2,_Istanbul: Kultur Bakanlıgı ve Tarih Vakfı

1994, 457; and Caglayan Kasrı, in Dunden

bugune _Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, 461.

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Paintings in the room numbered 5-1, within the same building, have striking

subject matter. This room is dated to the third stage of the construction of the Sale

Kiosk, and three of its paintings are landscapes from Italy, studied from photographs

by Tommaso Cuccioni. Cuccioni is mentioned in sources as a cartographer, engra-

ver, and a pioneer in photography and was active in Rome between 1852 and 1864.16

He was particularly renowned for his views of Rome. One of the paintings depicts

Castel Sant’Angelo (Hadrian’s Mausoleum) in Rome. The photograph and the wall

painting include identical details, such as the bridge over the Tiber, the cylindrical

main structure, the reflection of the structure on the water and the statue on the

building. The silhouette of the city in the background shows that the images share the

same viewpoint. The only difference between the photograph and the painting is that

there were no figures in the former, whereas the latter has a figure in the boat on the

Tiber (figures 3 and 4). A similar example is the painting of another building in Italy,

Casal Rotondo, the famous funerary structure on the Via Appia in Rome. A photo-

graph found in the Yıldız Albums provides a near view of the building, while in the

wall painting the structure is placed at the centre of a landscape that extends in the

background. In both images the walls of Casal Rotondo are captured in detail, with

small figures being included in the wall painting. One of the most important reasons

for the presence of images from Italy in this room seems to be related to the

nationality of its architect, Italian-born Raimondo D’Aronco.17

This room is attributed to the third stage of the construction of the Sale Kiosk,

and Raimondo D’Aronco was the architect in charge of this stage. He was one of the

significant foreign architects in the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century.

Room 5–1 is not a main interior space within the Kiosk; rather, it functions as a

small connecting passage. For this reason, in this secondary interior space, views of

Italy might have been chosen either on the initiative of D’Aranco or as a kind gesture

to please the architect who was revered by the palace. Furthermore, the Ottoman

Empire had maintained contact with Italy throughout history, and many Italians

other than D’Aranco were appointed to significant posts during the reign of Sultan

Abdulhamid II. Moreover, Castel Sant’Angelo has a special place in Ottoman history,

although its being chosen to be painted here may be attributed to pure chance. Cem

(Djem) Sultan (1459–1495) was kept as a prisoner in Italy for a long period.18 He

stayed in this building for six years. As a result of these factors, it should not be

surprising that images from Italy were included.

Figure 3. Castel Sant’ Angelo, one of the wall

paintings in room 5-1 in Sale Kiosk in Yıldız

Palace.

16 – http://www.studioapuleio.it.

17 – Feryal _Irez ve Vahide Gezgor, Yıldız

Sarayı Kasr-ı Humayunlarından Sale,_Istanbul: Milli Saraylar Daire Baskanlıgı

Yayınları 1991, 20.

18 – Son of Sultan Mehmed II (1432–1481),

Munevver Okur, Cem Sultan Hayatı ve Siir

Dunyası, Ankara: Kultur Bakanlıgı Yayınları

1992.

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The image of ‘Karnak’19 found in one of the Sehzade (Prince) Kiosks offers a

view from a different location, and was painted after a photograph taken in 1870 by

Pascal Se�bah (figures 5 and 6). The son of a Catholic Syrian who came to Istanbul

during the reign of Mahmud II and an Armenian woman, Pascal Se�bah was among

the significant photographers in Istanbul, even though he did not have strong

connections with the palace. His fame spread after being introduced to Osman

Hamdi Bey (1842–1910), who was not only a famous painter but was also the

founder of the first archaeological museum, the Imperial Museum (Muze-i

Humayun); the founder in 1881 of the photography and casting ateliers in the

same institution; the first Turkish archaeological excavator; and the person who

was influential in the preparation of the first regulations for the protection of ancient

works of art and architecture (Asar-ı Atika Nizamnamesi). This important Ottoman

intellectual and painter made use of photographs in his painting, and it is known that

Pascal Se�bah took various photographs for Osman Hamdi Bey.20 The period during

which Se�bah stayed in Cairo is also of importance. After his award-winning exhibi-

tion in Vienna, Se�bah planned to open another studio outside Istanbul and suc-

ceeded to do so in 1873 in Cairo, where he took photographs of Egypt. He

participated in many international exhibitions, showing photographs of Istanbul

and Egypt, and won medals in 1877 and 1878.21

Many excavations in the Ottoman lands, including Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,

Palestine, and Jordan, were made. Although the first excavations within the Ottoman

borders were made in Egypt, the art works and excavation results obtained here could

not be taken to Istanbul due to the discords between Mehmed Ali Pasha’s disobedient

Figure 4. Tommaso Cuccioni, Castel Sant’

Angelo, Yıldız Albums/IRCICA Archives, no.

91216-15.

Figure 5. Egypt/Karnak, one of the wall

paintings in the Fourth Sehzade Kiosk in

Yıldız Palace.

19 – The Karnak temple complex, universally

known only as Karnak, retrieves its current

name from the nearby and partly

surrounding modern village of el-Karnak,

some 2.5 km north of Luxor in Egypt.

20 – Cezar, Sanatta Batıya Acılıs , 227–333.

21 – Engin Ozendes, Se�bah ve Joaillier’den

Foto Sabah’a: Fotografta Oryantalizm,_Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları 1999, 173–99.

296

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governance and the central rule in Istanbul. Europe’s attention had started to focus on

Egypt with Napoleon Bonaparte’s efforts to conquer Egypt in the late eighteenth

century, and the British became victorious in the end. When all of these developments

are taken into consideration, although the frequent appearance of ancient ruins from

anonymous locations in the wall paintings of the late nineteenth century was also

meaningful, the detailed depiction of Karnak brings to mind the possibility of an

emphasis made on the fact that Egypt lay within the Ottoman borders.

When Ottoman paintings in the second half of the nineteenth century are con-

sidered, a group of painters variously called ‘the Soldier Painters Generation’, ‘The

Primitives’ or ‘the First Turkish Oil Painters’ are seen as prominent figures. They had

many shared tendencies, leading to a unity of style, and they constituted the early phase

of the transition into oil painting. All extant works by these painters are oil on canvas of

similar dimensions, and their themes include landscapes, structures within the palace,

parks and gardens. In contrast to the wall paintings, the views preferred in these

paintings are taken from the Yıldız Palace, and even the colours they employ are

identical. In these paintings, the atmosphere is static, and views from the kiosks and

summer palaces are depicted with their greenhouses, trellises and monumental ponds,

elements that distinguish the Yıldız Palace from other palaces. The photographic

approach adopted in these paintings suggests that the painters adhered to the composi-

tions in the original photographs. In addition, these paintings give the impression that

their compositions are cut from the two sides as another indication of their being direct

applications of photographs.22 As a matter of fact, when the photography albums were

examined, the photographs used as the source of these paintings were identified. As an

example of the paintings that were studied from photographs, Fahri Kaptan’s painting

depicting a view from the Yıldız Palace Garden can be mentioned;23 this was studied

from a photograph taken by Basil Kargopoulo (figures 7 and 8). Basil Kargopoulo was a

Greek who was active between 1850 and 1912 and provided valuable visual documents

of Istanbul. In his short lifetime, he taught Sultan Murat IV (1876) and later gained the

title of the official photographer of Abdulhamid II.24 The same applies to Huseyin

Giritli, who must have used the photograph taken by the Abdullah Freres for his

depiction of ‘the Grand Mabeyn Apartment in the Yıldız Palace’.25

An examination of paintings on canvas made by this generation of artists

suggests that these works were created within the same atelier under the supervision

of a teacher. Most of the painters of this generation were students who graduated

from civilian schools like Darussafaka at approximately the same time, and most of

them were subsequently appointed as civil servants and probably had no further

interest in painting.26 The Yıldız Palace houses structures built in different styles that

changed according to the particular tastes of the time, and it has a special significance

Figure 6. Pascal Se�bah, Egypt/Karnak,ca. 1870. Engin Ozendes, Se�bah ve

Joaillier’den Foto Sabah’a, Fotografta

Oryantalizm, _Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları1999, 203.

22 – Sezer Tansug, ‘Resim Sanatımızda

Ortaya cıkan Yeni Bir Gercek: 19. Yuzyıl

Sonu Turk Foto Yorumcuları’, Sanat cevresi,

23 (1980), 4–7; Coker, ‘Fotograftan Resim’,

4–12.

23 –According to the Naval Yearbooks

(Bahriye Salnamesi) of 1890 and 1892, Fahri

Kaptan was a graduate of the Imperial Naval

Academy (Mekteb-i Bahr-i Humayun). In

addition, his name is mentioned among the

teaching in the records of Darussafaka Lycee.

See Tansug, ‘Resim Sanatımızda’, 53.

24 – Cizgen and Beaugue�, Images D’Empire,

259–60.

25 –Huseyin Giritli’s name is recorded in the

list of Darussafaka graduates of 1891. The

artist’s name is also mentioned among the

students who were sent to France for further

education. Coker, ‘Fotograftan Resim’, 12.

26 – Coker, ‘Fotograftan Resim’, 4–12;

Cezar, Sanatta Batıya Acılıs , 377.

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as a group of structures reflecting the architectural novelties brought with the new

era opened by the Tanzimat Rescript (1839). As a result, every corner of the palace

was photographed.

Paralleled by the desire of the sultans to document everything within the borders

of the Empire, a documentary approach was also displayed in the art of the period.

The difficulty of reducing three-dimensional objects to two-dimensional images for

artists who did not study from nature or from live models was overcome in this way;

painters who had not received academic training benefited from the two-

dimensionality of photographs. It is observed that paintings were made from the

same perspective as the photographs and were depicted in exact match with the

photographs. Within the same period, while the West made use of photography for

Figure 7. Fahri Kaptan, Valide Sultan

(Sultan’s Mother’s) Kiosk in the Garden of the

Yıldız Palace, oil on canvas, 80 · 100 cm,

Mimar Sinan University Museum of Fine

Arts Painting and Sculpture Collection.

Gunsel Renda and T. Erol, Bas langıcından

Bugune Turk Resim Sanatı Tarihi, vol. I,_Istanbul: Tiglat Yayınları 1980, 87 and 70.

Figure 8. Basil Kargopoulo, Valide Sultan

(Sultan’s Mother’s) Kiosk in the Garden of the

Yıldız Palace, Yıldız Albums/ IRCICA

Archives, no. 90407-35.

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the purpose of capturing movement, Ottoman artists exploited its ability to docu-

ment. In fact, what was expected of the artist was to interpret the nature in the

direction of his or her taste and wishes. Nevertheless, both in wall and canvas

painting in the nineteenth century, almost exact copying of an image captured by a

different eye was preferred to interpreting the image. Since artists studied even the

light from photographs, these paintings give a dull and static impression. However,

when these canvas and wall paintings are examined, it is observed that they differ

from photographs in one aspect; just as in traditional Ottoman painting, these works

treat the frontal and rear planes in the same degree of clarity.

In fact, the tradition of visually documenting the quarters where the Ottoman

Sultans lived, as well as the lands they ruled, dates back to the sixteenth century. It is

known that different sections of the Topkapı Palace were depicted in illustrated

histories of the Ottoman Dynasty.27 It seems that this tradition was continued in the

nineteenth century by the use of western painting techniques and photography.

It can be concluded that with these painters who studied from photographs,

western style painting became popular. In a period when studying nature was not yet

adopted, the difficulties associated with depicting architectural details were over-

come with the help of photography. Studying from photography in painting is also

encountered in the neighbouring regions within the same historical period. The best

example for this comes from nineteenth-century Iran. The rule of the Kajar Dynasty

(1797–1925) was a period when reform movements dominated Iran. Just as hap-

pened in the Ottoman Empire, reforms were also made in Iran. Besides reforms in

the domains of military, politics and economy, modern schools were established. In

particular, the period of Nasruddin Shah (1848–1869) bears many resemblances to

those of Sultans Abdulaziz and Abdulhamid II. Nasruddin Shah was the first Iranian

ruler to visit Europe; he commissioned the first equestrian statue; he was also

involved in photography, establishing a photographic atelier in the palace and

commissioning albums. It is also understood that some of Nasruddin Shah’s oil-

on-canvas portraits were studied from photographs.28 Certainly, these painters

should be viewed as artists who studied from photographs rather than ‘photo-

realists’.

27 – Manuscripts like Suleymanname

(TSMK H.1517), Hunername (TSMK,

H.1523), and Sehinsahname (IUK, F.1404)

document the developments and changes

that took place in the Topkapı Palace in

different periods. See Esin Atıl,

Suleymanname: The Illustrated History of

Suleyman the Magnificent, Washington and

New York 1986, 90–3. The Topkapı Palace

was discussed in Gulru Necipoglu’s book

with illuminations from Ottoman

manuscripts. See Gulru Necipoglu,

Architecture, Ceremonial and Power, the

Topkapı Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth

Centuries, New York: The Architectural

History Foundation 1991, 48, 94 and 95.

28 – Julian Raby, Qajar Portraits, London:

I.B. Taurus 1999.

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