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This course is an introduction to the art and architecture
of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbor and
rival to the east, Safavid Iran, during the
16th?17th century heyday of both. We will
consider how each empire used artistic means ? architecture,
painting, decoration, and other arts ? to
put its own distinctive perceptual stamp on the world
within its reach. To this end, it considers a
number of major works (as well as some minor ones) of
each dynasty in a constellation of
contexts: political, cultural, stylistic. A running theme
will be the notion that art serves
''power'' and how this paradigm has affected the study
of Ottoman and Safavid art history.
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