Reclaiming Byzantium by Pinar Üre

Author:Pinar Üre [Üre, Pinar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Historiography, Social Science, Archaeology, Political Science, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
ISBN: 9781788317450
Google: 66TDDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2020-02-20T03:34:37+00:00

4.1 Studies in Istanbul

Of course, as the former capital of the Byzantine Empire and cradle of Orthodoxy, Istanbul was the focus of RAIK’s scholarly attention from the start, and deserves to be analysed under a separate heading. In the course of the twenty years of its existence, RAIK made numerous studies around Istanbul and regularly published them in the Izvestiia. As soon as RAIK’s office was opened in 1895, the archaeologists undertook a preliminary expedition to familiarize themselves with the monuments of the city. The capital of the Byzantine emperors received the lion’s share in terms of the numbers of articles and lectures RAIK produced. The archaeological interest in Istanbul echoed the political sensitivities of significant numbers of influential Russian intellectuals, who dreamed that one day Istanbul would be ‘liberated’ from the Turkish rule, and might indeed be governed by Russia.108

The first remarkable study of RAIK in Istanbul was carried out in Kariye Mosque, or the Chora Church before its transformation into a mosque by the Ottomans. Built as part of a monastic complex in the 5th century, Chora Church was transformed into a mosque by the Ottomans in the early 16th century. The mosaics and frescoes in the interior were examples of the Palaeologian Renaissance of the 14th century. In March 1899, Uspenskii asked permission through Ambassador Zinoviev to make architectural plans, take photographs and make sketches of mosaics and frescoes inside Kariye.109 He pointed to the danger posed for the monument, whose art treasures were threatened by neglect. Uspenskii was already in communication with the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Count I. I. Tolstoy, to commission a painter and photographer to help prepare the reproductions of mosaics. The Imperial Academy entrusted N. K. Kluge with this task.110 Shortly after Uspenskii’s request, the Ministry of Religious Foundations granted a permit for the study of the monument.111 The Minister notified the Russian ambassador that he would provide any necessary help in case need arose.112 The work in Kariye was completed in 1904 and results of the study were published as an album. Tsar Nicholas II made a personal donation of 10,000 roubles for the publication of Kariye mosaics.113 This donation was another instance showing the Tsar’s sympathy for the RAIK enterprise.

RAIK started the systematic study of the topography of Istanbul in 1902. Even though the investigations of Russian archaeologists in this period were closely followed by Ottoman officials, the Russians were allowed to take photographs, draw sketches of monuments and were provided with assistance when necessary.114 In 1903, after much difficulty, Uspenskii managed to receive a permit to do research in the library of the Topkapı Palace, which he continued with intermittently until 1914. In addition to a large collection of Islamic manuscripts, this library also contained books and manuscripts that the Ottomans inherited from the Byzantine emperors.115 Here Uspenskii discovered the famous Topkapı Octateuch Bible from the 12th century, also known as the Seraglio Octateuch.116 Important both for its artwork and for its content, the Topkapı Octateuch was an important literary monument from the Comnenos dynasty.

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