The Art of Byzantium

This photo essay portrays a double miracle. Not only are the Byzantine mosaics and frescoes in the Chora Church in Istanbul truly miraculous, but their survival through the city’s tempestuous history is a second miracle. The Church of St Saviour in Chora is today known as the Kariye Camii (Mosque) Museum. Originally part of a monastery dating from the early 5th century, the church takes its name from the Greek word ‘chora’, meaning land outside a city, although the church has long since been swallowed up by the sprawl of urban Istanbul. The church was rebuilt three times between the 6th and 12th centuries, with two of these reconstructions following earthquake damage. It was then ransacked, but not destroyed, during the Fourth Crusade in the 13th century, when forces from the western Christian churches pillaged Orthodox Constantinople.


The miraculous transformation of the Chora Church came in the years following the defeat of the Crusaders and the return of Constantinople to Byzantine rule. Between 1315 and 1321 the interior was decorated in the mosaic-work which can be seen in my photos, and which represents the finest example of the Byzantine renaissance. The work was endowed by the wealthy statesman Theodore Metochites, who was prime minister, treasurer and personal adviser to Andronikos II Palaiologos. Guide books refer to St Saviour of Chora as ‘Metochites’ Church’, but this is something of a misnomer. Metochites was sponsor of the work, but it was actually executed by unknown hands. It is probable that the sublime mosaics and frescoes are the work of a single artist who left a mysterious graphic signature on several of them.


The mosaics are ambitious narrative cycles depicting the life and ministry of Christ, and the life of the Virgin Mary, while the frescoes are confined to the side chapel which acted as a mortuary chapel, and depict the Last Judgement and the Harrowing of Hell. Metochites himself appears in the mosaics, and, as befits a prime minister, he is shown modestly presenting his church to Christ. But in a 14th century version of the cash for honours saga Metochites lost his fortune and was forced into exile when his boss Emperor Andronicus was thrown out of office. Metochites was allowed to return to Constantinople in 1330, and lived as a monk in the Church at Chora until his death two year’s later.


But the turbulent history of Chora did not finish with Metochites endowment. In 1453 Christian Constantinople was conquered by the Muslim Turks, and in 1511 Chora Church was converted into a mosque, and a minaret was added. At this point the Wikipedia entry is in error in saying that: “due to the prohibition against images in Islam, the mosaics and frescoes were covered behind a layer of plaster”. In his book Museum of Chora, Mosaics and Frescoes (ISBN 9757039438) the archaeologist İlhan Akşit explains: “After the conquest, the mosaics of the church which had been converted to a mosque were not touched. During the restoration in 1765, although there were small architectural additions, the mosaics were protected as they were. However, these mosaics were covered by wooden curtains during the daily prayers, as it is forbidden to pray in Islam in the presence of any form of picture.” It was this use of wooden curtains, rather than plaster, that allows us to appreciate the true miracle of Chora Church today.


In 1948 the church ceased to be used as a mosque, and the American Byzantine Institute started a ten year restoration programme. In 1958 Chora Church reopened as Kariye Camii Museum, and we were able to witness its miracles when we visited it in March 2007 when all the photographs here were taken. Flash photography is forbidden to protect the frescoes and mosaics, and the photos were taken by me, hand-held, using available light on a Casio EX-Z120 digital camera.


Now playing – Yasemin, 20th century music for the oud played by Necati Çelik. The Arabic word al’ud meaning ‘the wood’ is the root for both the words ‘oud’ and ‘lute’. The oud originated in ancient Egypt, and migrated to the West via the Crusades, to become the lute. Played with a plectrum, the oud has eleven strings and does not use frets. The absence of frets allows the microtones of the traditional Arabic Maqam modal system to be played. The concept of microtones, which originated in the 14th century, has re-emerged as a tool for contemporary composers – see my article on James Woods’ Hildegard.

Necati Çelik (below) was born in the Turkish province of Konya. This is home to the Sufi Mevlevi Order that I wrote about recently, and Çelik has performed in the Mevlevi rituals as an oud player. Five Turkish composers are featured on the CD. They range from one of the leading figures of Turkish music, Tanburi Cemil Bey, who died in 1916, to Reşat Aysu who was active until the end of the 20th century.

This Overgrown Path has travelled from the 5th to the 21st century. So here to finish on a suitably topical note is a link to a YouTube video of oud player Mehmet Polat. And here is a link to another website dedicated to the oud.

Now see the art of the mosque in Istanbul
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The art of the mosque

No two modes of architecture could be more different from one another than the Muslim and the West Christian. West Christian architecture in its early phase is filled with the craving for weight and massiveness; and in its second phase, the Gothic, in that for a spectacular liberation from that weight in a skyward ascent ... Moslem architecture is quite the opposite. A mosque is to be a court, a square, a market-place, lightly built to hold a large concourse of people. Allah is so great that nothing human can vie with Him in strength or endurance ... Even the Moslem castles, large though they are, give the effect of being light and insubstantial. But a Mosque is also a place for the contemplation of the Oneness of Allah. How can this better be done than by giving the eyes a maze of geometric patterns to brood over? The state aimed at is a sort of semi-trance. (Pliable - See my reference to the Mevelevi Order below). The mind contemplates the patterns, knows that they can be unravelled and yet does not unravel them. It rests therefore on what it sees, and the delicate colour, the variations of light and shade add a sensuous tinge to the pleasure of cetainty made visible.

Gerald Brenan writes above in his 1950 book The Face of Spain about the art of the Mosque. This photo essay celebrates a sublime example of that art, the Rüstem Pasa Camii in Istanbul.


The mosque was built by Rüstem Pasa, son-in-law and grand vezir of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566). Although Rüstem Pasa was one of the wealthiest nobles in the Ottoman Empire at the peak of its power he had to reflect his role as a servant of the Sultan by building a mosque that was subordinate in size, if not in beauty, to the sultan’s great mosque.


Mimar Sinan was the architect of the Rüstem Pasa Camii. Born a Christian in Anatolia, from either a Greek or Armenian background, Sinan was conscripted into Ottoman service in 1511, and converted to Islam. He was the chief Ottoman architect to four sultans, and his most famous buildings are the great Süleyman Mosque in Istanbul, and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. Sinan worked in seismic, as well as political, fault zones, and his buildings are famous for their earthquake resistance. His extraordinary output included 146 mosques and 57 universities, a track record that even Norman Foster can’t beat, although Mimar Sinan doesn’t have any airports in his portfolio


Rüstem Pasa chose a site alongside the Golden Horn in the Eminönü district of Constantinople, and at the foot of the hill crowned by Süleyman’s great mosque. Compact in size, but beautifully proportioned, Rüstem Pasa Camii is decorated with exquisite Iznik faience tiles which are notable for the use of red pigments, seen in my photo above, as well as the famous blue. Although in the popular spice bazaar area the mosque is not on the main tourist routes, and it takes some determination to find the entrance.


Rüstem Pasa Camii is one of the finest examples of the art of the mosque, and it was built at the peak of the Ottoman Empire. But sadly Rüstem Pasa was involved in the political intrique and murder that resulted in Selim the Sot - or drunkard (1566-1574) ascending to the throne on Sultan Süleyman’s death in 1566. Selim’s priorities were carnal rather than cultural, and his reign was the start of the long decline of the Ottoman Empire. We are very fortunate that many fine examples of the work of Mimar Sinan and other great Ottoman visionaries survive to remind us of this glorious period of Islamic art.


Now playing - Mevlevi Müzigi, the music of whirling dervishes. Mimar Sinan’s design for Rüstem Pasa Mosque follows the Ahaadith, and makes no provision for figurative art or the performance of music. But the exact position of the Qu’ran on this is not precise, and there are many fine examples of the creative arts from Ottoman culture. The Mevlevi is a Sufi Order founded by the followers of Mevlana Celalleddin-i Rum (left) in 1273 in the Konya province of Turkey. The Mevlevi Order is also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their practice of whirling to celebrate Allah. During the peak of the Ottoman Empire the Mevlevi Order produced many musicians and poets, and much of the stereotypical “oriental” Turkish music heard in the West originated from the order. Islam is usually perceived to be repressive of women’s rights, but this period saw the emergence of women in the creative sector, with Ayat Sweid identified as the first female artist.

In 1925 the Mevlevi Order was outlawed at the start of the secular revolution in Turkey. But in the 1950s the government realised the cultural and tourist value of the Whirling Dervishes, and performances in Turkey and overseas were reintated. The Istanbul Music and Sema (Whirling Ceremony) Group was founded to bring traditional music and spiritual ceremonies to a wider audience. They perform Turkish classical music, Tasavvuf (mystical) music, and Sema ceremonies (Whirling Dervish rituals) in historically authentic performances. In striking contrast to the doctrines of Islamic fundamentalism these Mevlevi rituals are centred on "human love", "brotherhood" and "tolerance" as advocated by their founder 750 ago. Follow this link link for music and video samples from the Istanbul Music and Sema Group. Also recommended is Laleh Bakhtiar's book Sufi, Expressions of the Mystic Quest (Thames and Hudson ISBN 050081015).

Now read how music and books reflect the crisis in Islam
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Books and music reflect the crisis of Islam

A report on Arab Human Development in 2002, prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the United Nations, reveals some striking contrasts. “The Arab world translates about 350 books annually, one-fifth of the number that Greece translates. The cumulative total of translated books since the Caliph Mamoun’s time (the ninth century) is about 100,000, almost the average that Spain translates in one year” …

Islam is one of the world’s great religions. It has given dignity and meaning to drab and impoverished lives. It has taught men of different races to live in brotherhood and people of different creeds to live side by side in reasonable tolerance. It inspired a great civilization in which others besides Muslims lived creative and useful lives and which, by its achievement, enriched the whole world. But Islam, like other religions, has also known periods when it inspired in some of its followers a mood of hatred and violence. It is our misfortune that we have to confront part of the Muslim world while it is going through such a period, and when most – though by no means all – of that hatred is directed against us.

Two reflections from The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis,(Phoenix ISBN 0753817527). This concise book is an expansion of a New Yorker article first published in November 2001. Bernard Lewis is the Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University. His books have been translated into more than twenty langauages, including Arabic, Persian and Turkish.

Now playing – The Fall of Constantinople sung by a veritable fixture On An Overgrown Path, Cappella Romana directed by Alexander Lingas. The ancient capital of Byzantium was caught between Latin West and Islamic East, and this CD captures the peak of that civilization with Byzantine chant and polyphony from the majestic ceremonies in the great Christian cathedral of Hagia Sophia. But the music also reveals the paradox of the Near East as it triumphantly asserts the dominance of the west, while fervently pleading for the healing of religious divisions.

It was this very paradox that was the downfall of Byzantium, and on 29th May 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, and that jewel of Eastern Christianity, Hagia Sophia, became a Muslim mosque. The fall of Constantinople is recognised on this inspirational CD with laments by Manuel Chrysaphes and Guillaume Dufay. Chrysaphes was the Lambarios at Hagia Sophia at the time of the fall, and he expressed his desolation by setting the verses from Psalm 78 using kalophonic chant, which are sung on the CD by Cappella Romana. My header picture, from the excellent Byzantine.net, shows Hagia Sophia as it might appear today, had it not become a mosque, and later a tourist attraction. In this visual reconstruction the minarets have been removed and the life-giving cross restored to the dome.

Professor Lewis’ book and Cappella Romana’s CD shed much needed light on the crisis of Islam. But before anyone gets too self-righteous about those thought-provoking statistics on book availability in the Arab world, they should dwell on the fact that this important CD from Cappella Romana’s is not available in Europe, I had to import my copy from the US.

Tonight the Overgrown Path literally leads to Constantinople and we fly out to Istanbul. Tomorrow I will be standing under the great dome of Hagia Sophia. There will be a few day's break in posts while we revel in the legacy of Byzantium, so please visit some of the other excellent music blogs in my sidebar until I return.

Now, read about the composer who set the psalms in Ottoman Turkish, and hear the result
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