Astonishing Art at The Great Palace Mosaic Museum.

Astonishing Art at The Great Palace Mosaic Museum.

October 2020.

Earlier in this series I suggested that the city of Istanbul can be viewed as a tale of two palaces. If you haven’t already checked out my pieces on Topkapi Palace and Dolmabahçe Palace, please do, these sights are absolute gems!

While I stand by what I said, I also recognise that in actual fact the city was once home to three monster palaces. The thing is, few visitors to the city know about The Great Palace of Constantinople. That’s because today only a few remnants remain from the complex that was the beating heart of the Byzantine Empire.

Built in 330 AD by Constantine the Great, The Great Palace stood between today’s Sultanahmet Square and Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately, in the early years of the Ottoman era, the palace was demolished, the majority of its treasures lost to the ravages of time. These days, just a few precious artefacts exist, such as this sculpted pier on display at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.

Exploring Istanbul.

However, Istanbul is also home to a truly spectacular collection of art that once lived in The Great Palace. Archaeologists found them in the early 1950s during excavations. Hitting the jackpot, the English archaeologist David Talbot Rice and his team discovered a stunning array of 1500 year old wall and floor mosaics.

In 1983 a group of historians and archeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences launched a huge project to study, restore and preserve the mosaic fragments. Thus, in 1987, The Great Palace Mosaic Museum opened in Istanbul. A place where visitors like Sladja and I could roll up, pay a small fee, and check out these magnificent pieces of ancient Byzantine art.

It wasn’t until 1997 that the restoration project finally came to a close. Bearing in mind the magnitude of the task and the spectacular nature of the relics themselves, I couldn’t quite believe that entry to the museum was a paltry 35 Turkish Liras per person (around $1.40).

Astonishing Art at The Great Palace Mosaic Museum.

We arrived on a hot October afternoon, so immediately relished the cool air in the museum, which had an aircraft hangar feel to it. Moreover, we found ourselves exchanging smiles as we realised it was just us inside. Or was that someone disappearing around a distant corner? Either way, this was definitely as good as it gets.

The setup for the museum was simple. First, we read a series of wall panels detailing where the mosaics were found. Talbot and friends unearthed them on the floor of a huge peristyle courtyard in what would have been the palace’s south-western wing.

Historians believe the mosaics featured roughly 80 million multi-coloured cubes made of lime, terracotta and glass. Originally, they reckon this covered a surface area of 1872 square metres. Of that, they succeeded in restoring and preserving around 250 square meters.

As for who made the mosaics, historians can’t be certain. Nevertheless, there are some theories that make sense. With elements of traditional Greek and Roman mosaic art evident throughout the works, one idea is that Constantine hired the most talented craftsmen in the world for what would have been the most ambitious mosaic project of the times. In contrast, other experts insist that domestic artists made the mosaics taking inspiration from the Greeks and the Romans.

1500 year-old Art.

Some of the restored mosaics sit elegantly on the museum floor in order to show how they might have looked in the courtyard of The Great Palace back in the day.

Other more fractured images that couldn’t be reconnected with their sister pieces stand individually wall-mounted. Regardless of their position, all represent a single reference point for how the palace itself may have looked. And of course they are priceless windows into 4th century art and culture.

Hunting, for example, is a theme that dominates much of the artwork on display. Some of it is horrifyingly/pleasingly (delete as appropriate) grisly, such as this large bear sinking its teeth into a hapless lamb. Yes, that’s blood gushing out of the poor thing.

In another, a leopard launches a vicious attack on a stag. The scene seems to be unfolding on the site of a water mill.

Astonishing Art at The Great Palace Mosaic Museum.

In this one, meanwhile, an elephant seems to be getting the upper hand on a lion.

This image of a huntsman on horseback certainly stopped me in my tracks, a gaping hole where his face should be. According to the notes under this one, he is “hunting for gazelles dressed in oriental garb”. Hmm, not exactly inconspicuous.

This hunter, on the other hand, his face fully intact, is about to clash with a fierce looking leopard. But again, there is a key part of the image missing. If we could just see what the hunter is carrying, we might have a better idea who the likely victor will be.

Elsewhere, how about this incredible piece showing a snake and eagle in combat? Symbolising the eternal battle of light over darkness, the snake and the eagle are widespread in antiquity. In fact, this same image featured on the funeral pyre that Alexander the Great had erected for his deified friend Hephaistion in 324 BC. Furthermore, the imagery was a mainstay of Roman Army standards.

Light and Darkness.

Away from scenes of conflict, there are some curious and often amusing snippets of everyday life. In this article’s cover photo, two young boys ride a camel. The lad at the front appears to be from a wealthy family, evidenced by the wreath in his hair and the tame bird in his hand. The boy behind him, however seems to be a commoner, which would make him an unusual choice of playmate. One theory is that he could have been the son of a family servant.

Numerous mosaics depict farm life. Planting vegetables, picking fruit, ploughing the land. In the below image, a husband and wife show their annoyance as they herd a pair of mischievous geese.

Conversely, there is a suggestion of genuine affection between this man (?) and his donkey as he presents a basket of (what I assume is) fruit with a warm smile.

Last but not least, I can’t help but smile at this quirky piece showing a monkey trying to catch a bird. Or at least that’s what the accompanying info says. The monkey is using a stick to try and knock birds out of the tree.

He wears a wooden cage on his back, upon which sits a presumably tame falcon who watches proceedings with interest. This mosaic certainly wins the prize for most surreal and throws up plenty of questions. Chiefly, why is monkey catching birds? And what happened to its tail?

Astonishing Art at The Great Palace Mosaic Museum.

Exiting back out into the sunshine, Sladja and I chatted excitedly about what a special exhibition we’d just seen. What’s more, we had paid mere pennies for the privilege and enjoyed the museum largely to ourselves.

While putting this article together I noticed that, at the time of writing, the museum is temporarily closed. An official statement reveals that the works are undergoing further restoration in addition to an “enhancement project”. It will be interesting to see how it all looks after reopening.

Like this? Take a look at my series of articles on Istanbul.

I’ve been living, working and traveling all over the world since 2001. So why not check out my huge library of travel reports from over 30 countries.