Art policy

As soon as the romantics were glorified by a free artist, subordinate only to dialogues with higher forces, at those who work in art by order, began to look askance. But the exhibition “Treasures of the Oman Sultans” from the Istanbul Palace of Topkapa, one of the largest Dvorni museums in the world, brought to the Moscow Kremlin, recalls how useful the relations of customers and performers in art are for all participants in the process.

First of all, this applies to decorative and applied purpose items, when the authorities manifests and symbolizes itself not so much through personified images, but through funny trifles of life, all kinds of cloaks, egretis and cold weapons. Although these objects, as a rule, remained clearly attached to their owner, by and large they could be perceived as abstract. Nothing, it would seem, was opposed to convey them by inheritance and identify with any new character. But pride, this derivative from tradition, did not allow to do this. The authorities think of itself unique, the idea of ​​its own stereotype is deeply alien to it and even disgusting . Therefore, at the Istanbul Palace of the Sultans, there were huge workshops, in which hundreds of masters - jewelers, artists and chasers worked. They were designed to provide their work with a visual component of the myth of power. More than a hundred exhibits of the Moscow exhibition show the impressive results of this utopia.

For all the stylistic uniqueness of Ottoman art, the Ottoman rulers themselves sought to Europe more and more. In the middle of the 19th century, the 31st in a row Ottoman Sultan Abdulmedzhid considered the old Topkapi morally obsolete, not corresponding to the tasks of the new time. He commanded to build a new Palace Dolmabahche on the shore of the Bosphorus, designed in the European style, leaving in the old all his collections, which he showed overseas ambassadors and especially honorary guests. The largest collection of Chinese porcelain is considered, with more than twelve thousand objects. The collection of manuscripts is no less impressive, and not only in oriental languages. Some sultans were real bibliophiles. So, one of the main trophies after the conquest of Hungary can be considered the personal library of King Matiash Corvinus , transported to the banks of the Bosphorus. There are also manuscripts in Church Slavonic, Armenian, Greek and Latin. Of the exhibits of this department, in Moscow, in particular, the miniature portraits of the Sultans of Bayazid II and Selim I (Grozny), made on two sides of the same sheet, are shown, in particular. Their author, the famous Levni, the master of the era of the Sultan Ahmed III (1703 - 1730) went down in history due to the fact that he radically updated the principles of the image of the padishahs. His portraits were not related to the text, not illustrated it, but gained independent meaning.

After the 1924 revolution, Ataturk declared Topkapi the National Museum. The visit to it is required for everyone visiting Istanbul. But in this noisy, Europoician-Minotaur city, somehow quickly choke on impressions, only sounds remain in the memory. Therefore, the travels of museums around the world are so savvy. They allow you to make up for the gaps of a cultural tourist without leaving your hometown.

There are several departments in Topkapi. The most famous is the treasury, various kinds of precious metals, stones and rock crystal are stored here. Most of all, probably, in the treasury of egregates - jewelry that was attached to the headdress. It was believed that the egrettes provide force and protect against evil spirits. They were worn by the Chinese, the Mongols, and the Turkic dzhigits, the latter made them from silk threads or tails of the Yak. The egretes in the Ottoman Empire were a symbol of the power of the Sultan, they were worn at once two or three, and made from expensive materials . Moreover, in this subtle business he had to follow fashion. It’s not even about the 19th century, when the European osmines affected the shape of the egregates. So, in the egret made in the first half of the 16th century, gold, rubies, diamonds, turquoise, sapphire and black silver were used. And less than a century later, for Egret, in addition to gold, emeralds, diamonds and enamel, it was already required by feathers. At that time, feathers of gray heron, peacock or hummingbirds began to be used with might and main. This affected the size of the egregates - they decreased - but not on their popularity. Egreets wore not only the padishahs, the crown princes and the great viziers, but also the Crimean and Turkmen khans, and the high -ranking dignitaries.

And from rock crystal, a set of chess figures was made (the second half of the 16th century). They are decorated with gold, emeralds and rubies. Other sets of chess stored in the treasury are also decorated with precious stones. The Sultan Bayazid II received in 1503 as a gift from the Book of the Chess Game, which summed up the history of chess development in Arabic and Indian civilizations. But at the same time, in Istanbul and in Aleppo, commoners played chess, this was the favorite entertainment of the coffee houses there.

Another example of borrowing is the collar (mock) from the embroidered collection dated 1703 - 1730. He was invested in the tomb of Sultan Selim II many years after his death, followed in 1574. The silk atlas of the color of the ruby ​​is embroidered with the so -called “three balls” pattern (three balls in each each) are grouped along the entire surface of the fabric). Although the balls are ornamented by the crescents, and such a motive is considered part of the Chintemani pattern, which has become widespread in the Ottoman culture of the 16th century, the Buddhist tradition can follow here. According to the authors of the catalog, a motive with three balls, "as one of the symbols of the Buddha, symbolizes the magical jewel that brings luck and well -being."

The aesthetic beginning played an important role in the life of the Ottomans. The most famous Istanbul exhibit - “Topkapi dagger” - did not reach Moscow, but there was enough brought to evaluate the combination of the intellectual and formal in Bosphorus culture. So, on the “Kalkan” shield, stored in the Topkapa weapons collection, there is an inscription of the philosophical property: “ Do not be afraid of the enemy, when the sword is next to the shield; since the shield is the fortress of the heroes; since the shield is like the spinning sun; Each of my Prutik is responsible for a hundred lives . ” The twigs are not a poetic paths, but a harsh reality: the shield is made of willow rods fastened with silk threads, and only the UMBON, its central part, is made of iron decorated with floral ornaments and images of a doe, rubies and turquoise. It is clear that the ceremonial essence of such a shield only symbolizes power - as well as a dagger with a handle from rock crystal (1514), belonging to Sultan Selim I Yawuza (the nickname in the translation means formidable). On the example of another famous dagger from the Topkapa collection, the collective strategy of the sultans is becoming clear. The dagger, for the decoration of which required three emeralds, 20 large and 124 small diamonds, was sent in 1747 as a gift to the Persian Shah Nadir. On the road of the courier and the dagger turned out: it became known about the death of the gift, the dagger went to the donor.

Why the rulers of all countries and peoples are not alien to the beautiful, probably only their parents know. One rises from inhuman music, others drag the pictures and sculptures from all over the world to their museums, Stalin, along with Mikoyan, personally affirmed the design of Soviet canned foods. But the Sultans not only appreciated beauty, but they themselves created it. So, Ahmed III and Mahmoud II were fascinated by calligraphy, Selim III music, and Suleiman I devoted his leisure to jewelry. Mustafa III completely minted the coins. Of course, this is not the design of canned food, but still - close to the people. You begin to especially appreciate such hobbies of Istanbul rulers against the background of aesthetic preferences of Russian rulers. Surely they are. But for some reason I don’t want to think about them.

The exhibition in the exhibition hall of the Assumption belfry and the single -post chamber of the Patriarchal Palace of the Moscow Kremlin museums will last until August 15. The cost of the catalog is 900 rubles.