SANTA SOFÍA | Christa Zaat

Christa Zaat



Sevket Dag (Turkish painter) 1876 - 1944
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 1898
oil on canvas
90 x 51 cm. (35½ x 20 in.)
signed Chevkèt and dated in Arabic lower left
private collection

Catalogue Note
Over its 1,700 year history, the Hagia Sophia (in Turkish Ayasofya), has had numerous incarnations, both liturgical and architectural. First constructed under Emperor Constantine in 306AD and since rebuilt twice, it was named Megale Ekklesia (Big Church) before becoming known in the fifth century as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). It was here that Emperors were crowned, and it was the largest cathedral in the Byzantine Empire.
Constantine’s church was burnt down after a public riot in 404, and replaced by a second church by Emperor Theodosius II in 415. The current building, occupying the same site as its predecessors, dates from the mid sixth century and was built by the most renowned architects of the period, Anthemios of Tralles, a mathematician, and Isidoros of Miletus, a physicist, under the order of Emperor Justinian. Official records show that during its construction period, the two architects each had a hundred architects working under them, who in turn each had a hundred workers working under them.
Emperor Justinian ordered all provinces under his reign to send the best architectural materials for use in the church’s construction, which was to be the biggest and grandest Hagia Sophia yet. The columns and marble, for example, were taken from ancient cities in and around Anatolia and Syria, including Aspendus, Ephessus, Baalbeek and Tarsa.
Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of late antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. It was used as a cathedral for over nine hundred years, and remained the world’s largest for nearly a thousand years. Following Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s conquest of Istanbul in 1453, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque. The structure was fortified after this period, and remained in use as a mosque for almost five hundred years. Under the order of Atatürk and the decision of the Council of Ministers, Hagia Sophia was deconsecrated and converted into a museum in 1935.
As a result of Hagia Sophia's history, its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike.