The Suleimanyie Mosque, as seen from the north east 1570

Melchior Lorck created this print of The Suleimaniye Mosque in Constantinople in the 16th century. Lorck was one of the first Northern European artists to spend a considerable amount of time in the Ottoman Empire. This detailed rendering of the Mosque is a product of the complex relationship between Europe and the Ottoman Empire. As Europeans began to travel more extensively, their encounters with different cultures prompted both fascination and a need to document and understand the 'Other'. Lorck's depiction of the mosque is meticulous, almost scientific in its precision, yet it inevitably carries the weight of his own cultural perspective. Consider the role of the artist as a cultural translator. How might his personal background and the expectations of his European audience have shaped what he chose to represent, and how he represented it? What does it mean to view a sacred space through the eyes of an outsider? This print offers a window into the past, inviting us to reflect on the dynamics of cultural exchange.