Early Modern 'Street' Art: Ottoman Istanbul calling Sweden and Venice
Metin Mustafa
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Abstract: Costume books became popular at the hands of travellers to the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These highly sought after manuscripts by the European elite forged the creation of early modern ‘street’ art in Ottoman Istanbul. For the European sojourners in the Ottoman capital during these periods, costume books became customary to take back with them travel accounts offering both descriptions and illustrations of Ottoman dress to a select but influential audience. These accounts and their illustrations were reprinted, cited, and copied by other travellers. Today, there are more than twenty albums in the libraries and museums in France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Greece and Turkey. This essay seeks to contribute to previous works in this area on Ottoman-European artists’ collaborations in the creation of such albums signifying the cross-cultural connections in the early modern Mediterranean world. The Cigona Codex 1971 album and The Ralamb Album of Costumes of Claes Ralamb are only two of many costume books produced during this period. It is the aim of this comparative essay to explore these representations of early modern Ottoman society through the eyes of two travellers to the Ottoman Empire, including the Secretary to the Venetian bailo in Istanbul, Giovanni Battista Ballarino (c.1660) and the Swedish ambassador to Istanbul, Claes Ralamb (1622-1698) with past and contemporary Ottoman miniaturists.