Detail of the Studenica Silk (с1400), showing an inscription naming the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (image courtesy of the speaker)
Among the treasures in the monastery of Studenica in Serbla is а large silk hanging woven for the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I {r 1389-1402). lt is the earliest known Ottoman textile, and is among the earliest works of Ottoman art of any sort. Although it is very well preserved, its initial production remains mysterious, as do its story in the 15th century and later. Dr Phillips, a Fulbright Fellow of University of Virginia and Коç University, gives an overview of the silk textile’s historical context with а discussion of technology and material, and makes а brief foray into its later life in Studenica and elsewhere.
This lecture is given under the aegis of the American Research Institute in Turkey and the American Institute for Southeast European Studies