Order of the bath Ingres and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu by John Carswell
When the intrepid Lady Mary Wortley Montagu travelled with her husband's embassy to Turkey in 1716, she recorded the minutiae of life on the road and in her 'new world'. . Witty, insatiably curious and remarkably open-minded, her innocent observations inspired Ingres, a century later, to paint some of the greatest erotic masterpieces of the Romantic movement.
Top: The first in Ingres' series of nudes 'Baigneuse a mi-corps vue de dos', painted in Rome in 1806
Below: Still in the tradition of Velazquez and Titian, the grisaille of the Louvre picture 'La Grande Odalisque' was kept by Ingres in his studio until he died.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu by Charles Jervis National Gallery, Dublin
Architecture
Leighton's orient by Caroline Juler with photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg
Orientalism was an obsession with many rich Victorians. But the painter Frederick Leighton went to extraordinary lengths to create his pink, black, blue and gold domed Arab Hall in London.
Water's edge Houses of the Bosphorus by Patricia Daunt with photographs by Simon Upton
Hekimbasi Salih Efendi was the last Chief Physician to the Ottoman court. He was also a scholar and reformer. But plants were his passion, and the grounds of his yali were filled with the scent of carnations, lilies and peonies. The gardens have gone, but the house lives on.
Patricia Dauntexplores more beautiful houses in the pages of Cornucopia.
Travels with my yurt by Tim Beddow
The traditional tent of Central Asian nomads is a pleasure dome fit for the gods, says Tim Beddow
Lycian shore by Barnaby Rogerson and Rose Baring with photographs by Faruk Akbas
‘There are not so many places left where magic reigns without interruption,’ wrote Freya Stark in The Lycian Shore, ‘and of all those I know, the coast of Lycia was the most magical.’ Barnaby Rogerson went with Rose Baring and four-month-old Molly in search of enchantment.
The most westerly part of Turkey's southern coast is backed by towering mountains that tumble headlong right to the shore of the beckoning Mediterranean. It is one of the most dramatic of coastlines, alternating between sandy beaches and hostile cliffs that have long been the terror of sailors. Inland, two fertile valleys that have traditionally supported their inhabitants are honeycombed with the ruins of a unique civilisation. No traveller can escape the spell woven by the constellations of tombs which look down upon the land from cliffs and hilltops. Little is known of the culture of the ancient Lycians, the architects of these temples, tombs and sarcophagi, but there are a few encouraging facts to help the visitor. Isolated by their dramatic landscape (the coast road only completed its tortuous route some thirty years ago), the Lycians lived as a peaceful confederacy of city states, governed by the deliberations of a proportionally representative body, a feat the civilised Greeks never managed.
Foundations of learning The Suleymaniye Library by Caroline Finkel with photographs by Simon Upton
Süleyman the Magnificent's city within a city above the Golden Horn has come to house one of the world's finest collections of books and ancient manuscripts.
Cookery
Aubergines Text and photographs by Berrin Torolsan
Elegrant, mysterious, like a plant from another planet, the aubergine is the sultan of vegetables, despite a reputation for mischief. Its rich, subtle flavour lends itself to a multitude of melting concoctions. Berrin Torolsan traces the story of this most lustrous fruit and serves up an irresistible feast.
For a complete list of Berrin Torolsan's cookery stories in Cornucopia, see our cookery index. Selected recipes are also available online: menus.
Book reviews
Reviewed by Phiilippa Scott: The Lost Treasures of Troy, by Caroline Moorehead Schliemann of Troy: Treasures and Deceit, by David Traill, The Gold of Troy (exhibition catalogue)
Reviewed by Antony Wynn: Songs from the Steppes of Central Asia: Collected Poems of Makhtumkuli, 18th-century Poet-Hero of Turkmenistan, trans Yusuf Azemoun, versified by Brian Aldiss
Reviewed by John Freely: Byzantium: The Decline and Fall, by John Julius Norwich
Reviewed by John Carswell: Turkish Traditional Art Today, by Henry Glassie The Turkish Hayat House, by Dogan Kuban
Also reviewed in brief by Phiilippa Scott: The Tribal Eye, by Peter Davies Kilims: The Complete Guide, by Alastair Hull and Jose Luczyc-Wyhowska. Oriental Rugs Vol 4: Turkish, by K Zipper and C Fritsche Hagop Kapoudjian: The First and Greatest Master of the Kumkapi School, by George F Farrow with Leonard Harrow
Add Issue 10 to the basket £20/US$32 Published 1996
Regular Features:
Restaurant Reviewsby Andrew Finkel, Tom Gattos and David Barchard Interior design: The Decorist Fair at the Ciragan Palace
Auto design: John Brunton interviews Peugot's design guru Murat Gunak
PLUS: Andrew Finkel's report on the preparations for Habitat II, the UN Conference on Human Settlements
