merith's claude.

The Ortaköy Camii seen from a Bosphorus cruise.

And this reminds me of a Claude Lorrain, if he were to paint mosques and cruise boats rather than classical roman buildings and tall ships...

sultanahmet camii.

Sultanahmet Camii and lone worshiper.

I thought this was a fitting quote:

Before the art of illumination there was blackness and afterward there will also be blackness. Through our colors, paints, art and love, we remember that Allah had commanded us to "See"! To know is to remember that you've seen. To see is to know without remembering. Thus, painting is remembering the blackness. The great masters, who shared a love of painting and perceived that color and sight arose from darkness, longed to return to Allah's blackness by means of color. Artists without memory neither remember Allah nor his blackness. All great masters, in their work, seek that profound void within color and outside time.

Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red, p.76

ps.

I heart the Aya Sofia. (Gia's photo)

aya sofia.

Aya Sofia from our rooftop terrace.

omg omg omg - I finally saw inside the Aya Sofia... and there was a lot of scaffolding. Among other things.

ramazan.

In addition to the morning call of prayer, I have been awoken by drum beats to remind fasting Muslims to eat before sunrise. Sultanahmet, the oldest part of Istanbul, not only has become host to thousands of tourists, but local Muslims as well. At night, it's a bit like a festival, and during the day, I don't have to deal with crowds (or smoke) during lunch... although I do feel guilty downing some water on the street...

merith's vermeer.

Topkapi Palace

This picture reminds me of a Vermeer painting. Minus people and vertical precision.