German art historian Friedrich Theodor Paul Sarre (1865-1945) was still quite young when he embarked on a research trip from Izmir to Aksaray in the summer of 1895. After his return to Germany, Sarre compiled the notes and photographs of this journey in a book titled Reise in Kleinasien: Forschungen zur seldjukischen Kunst und Geographie des Landes (“Travel in Asia Minor, Summer 1895. Research of Seljuk art and the geography of the country”). His main objective was to better understand and investigate the “golden age” of Konya, the capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, from the perspective of an art historian. In the years to come, Sarre became the director of the collection kept under the name of the Islamic Arts Department (Islamische Abteilung) as part of the Royal Museums of Berlin. He also paved the way for this collection to eventually evolve into a Museum of Islamic Arts, both by donating his personal collection and through his work as a researcher. Sarre’s journey across Anatolia early in his career stands out as the first scientific study on the architecture and art history of the Seljuks. It is equally important for shedding light on the cultural discoveries and practices that developed under the Ottoman-German political alliance in the final years of the 19th century.

 

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November 19, 2021 – 19:00

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