Part of the Early Modern Research Cluster
Abstract
In 1720, the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III ordered the preparation of an imperial festival to celebrate the circumcision of the four royal princes, the sons of the Grand Vizier, the sons of the Janissary Commander, and five thousand boys from the poor families of Istanbul.
Staged on the Archery Grounds across the Golden Horn and facing the city centre, the festival lasted for fifteen days between the 18th of September and the 2nd of October. Conflating pious rulership, imperial grandeur and benevolence, the monumental spectacle was represented in an equally monumental manuscript, combining the eye-witness account of the court poet Vehbi with the 137 paintings of the court artist Levni.
This talk discusses the paintings of Levni in the context of the tumultuous political dynamics and changing social and urban fabric of eighteenth-century Istanbul. It argues that Levni’s paintings presented Ahmed III with the vision of a social and political order when such an order was effectively challenged by a multiplicity of actors.
About the Presenter
Saygin Salgirli (UBC, AHVA)
Bio
Saygin Salgirli is an Assistant Professor of art history, specializing in the art and architecture of the late medieval and early modern Mediterranean, with a particular focus on Seljuq and Ottoman art and architecture
