COURSE OUTLINE - MS

Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise

3 Sessions (2 hours per session): Weekly

In this course we explore Ottoman Renaissance art with the artwork of the Renaissance in Italy. We will particularly focus on the works of Michelangelo and of Sinan, looking at the artists' thematic representations in their major works, including the 'Last Judgement' and Rustem Pasha Mosque.

We will also look at how the work of each artist inspires spiritual and inward contemplation, and establishes a connection between the individual and the Divine.

Aims

The course aims to re-orient the narrative of Sinan’s use of the fine art of Iznik çini (tiles) within the context of the Renaissance humanist paradigm. The study compares the fine art of Iznik çini of the Mosque of Rustem Pasha (1560-61) by the Ottoman imperial architect and artist Sinan, with the monumental buon’ fresco of one of the giants of the Renaissance—Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (1541). The alternative reading of these two works, as undertaken in this study, looks beyond the grand-scale production of the two works in order to examine the allegorical message they convey. Such a comparison underpins the Mediterranean zeitgeist exemplified by the early modern art of Italy and Ottoman Istanbul in the sixteenth century. Inspired by their respective religious and intellectual traditions, the works of Michelangelo and Sinan converge thematically. Close analysis of the two works from anagogical and eschatological paradigms based on the religious themes alluded to in the New Testament and the Qur’an respectively: ‘Salvation’, ‘Act of Judgement’, ‘Self-reflection’ and ‘Predestination’ including the Isra and Mi’raj narratives of Prophet Muhammad influencing Dante’s (d. 1321) Divine Comedy, establish the meeting point between Michelangelo and Sinan. Furthermore, applying the Sufi humanist, Ibn Arabi’s (1165-1240) theophanic (visible manifestations of God to humankind) experience of the Divine, and the Jungian theory of religious symbolisms providing a deeper sense of meaning to one’s existence, the book establishes a link between the art of Michelangelo and Sinan. From these perspectives the pan-European notion of the Renaissance begins to dissipate and instead offers a more inclusive understanding of the period in discussion. Therefore, the underpinning of this argument promotes the broadening of our understanding of the shared heritage in the Mediterranean during the sixteenth century.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Recognise the revisionist and global perspectives of the term ‘Renaissance’
Discuss the major artistic works the two Renaissance contemporaries: Michelangelo’s Last Judgement and Ottoman imperial architect Sinan’s Iznik tiles in the Mosque of Rustem Pasha
Develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of cultural and artistic convergence of the early modern period between the Ottomans and the Latin West
Critically analyse the art historical symbolisms of the early modern Christian and Islamic aesthetics

Content

This course covers the following topics:

Introducing Michelangelo and Sinan – the two Renaissance masters
The Mediterranean Zeitgeist: Contextualising Michelangelo and Sinan

Technology of fresco and tile making in the Renaissance
Michelangelo and Sinan in their own words
Michelangelo and Sinan: Between Prophet Muhammad’s ‘Mi’raj’ and Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’
Influence of the story of the ‘Mi’raj’ on Dantean Thought
Michelangelo meets Sinan: Anagogical and Eschatological Readings of the Last Judgement and the Iznik Çini of the Rustem Pasha Mosque
Aesthetics of Michelangelo and Sinan: Representations of Salvation
Aesthetics of Michelangelo and Sinan: art as metaphors for self-reflection
Aesthetics of Michelangelo and Sinan: the act of Judgement
Aesthetics of Michelangelo and Sinan: Predestination

Prerequisites

Intended audience

Participants interested in extending their knowledge of the global nature of the Renaissance and how cultural interactions contribute to great works of art.

People of any age interested in art.

Delivery style

Weekly Online Lecture with audio-visual presentation
Online discussion forums
Analysing written and visual sources

Materials

Writing pad / laptop

PRESCRIBED TEXT AND OR RECOMMENDED READING

Denny, Walter, B., 2010. Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics. London, Thames and London.

Hall, Marcia B., 2005. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, New York, Cambridge University Press.

Mustafa, Metin, 2021. Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation, and Paradise, Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation.

Necipoğlu, Gülru, 2005. The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire, London, Reaktion Books.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

TUTOR BIOGRAPHY

Metin Mustafa is a former secondary teacher of history with over two decades of teaching experience. He holds a PhD in Ottoman Renaissance art from The University of Notre Dame Australia and Bachelor of Education in Humanities from The University of Sydney. He lectured and tutored the units The History of Western Civilisation and Religious Traditions in Multicultural Australia at The University of Notre Dame Australia and Charles Sturt University respectively. Dr. Metin Mustafa also taught Teaching Methodology at the Australian Catholic University. He presented at numerous history conferences on cross-cultural interactions in the early modern period:

Sultan Mehmed II and Rethinking the Renaissance (University of Sydney)
Ottoman Renaissance Material Culture in Early Modern Europe (University of Sydney)
Renaissance Self-Fashioning of Süleyman the Magnificent (University of Notre Dame Australia)
Representations of the Divine and Salvation: An Alternative Reading of Sinan's Iznik tiles of Rustem Pasha Mosque and Michelangelo's Last Judgement (University of Sydney)
History and gender in Sultan Murad III's Surname-i Hümayun 1582,
Islam, Ottoman Turks and Orientalism (Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1999)
Abraham: Our Ancestor - Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Aquinas Academy, Sydney, 1998)

Metin is the founder of the Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation. Between 2019 and 2023, he taught Ottoman and Renaissance art history courses at The University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education. His research interests include: Early modern Mediterranean cross-cultural interactions; civilisation of the Ottoman Renaissance (1400-1683); the idea of many renaissances. He is the author of the monograph: The Ottoman Renaissance: A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art, 1413-1575 and History of Ottoman Renaissance Art: From Mehmed I to Selim II. His other publications include: Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise in Renaissance Art, The Ottoman Renaissance and the Early Modern World, 1400-1699 (Essays Series Complete Edition), 'The Divine Comedy’ of Süleyman Çelebi and Mir Heidar: A Sufi Mystical Reading of Early Modern Turkic Representations of Prophet Muhammad's 'Isra' and 'Mir'aj' and Oriental Imaginings, Occidental Re-Fashioning: Turquerie, the Tulip Age and Ottoman Modernity, 1683-1867.