Privy Chamber of Murad III, Topkapı

Privy Chamber of Murad III, Topkapı, The court architect Mimar Sinan and the court design studio
Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0

A domed hall in Istanbul entirely faced with blue and red Iznik tiles and a marble fountain.

The room is counted among Sinan’s finest interiors and shows Ottoman ceramics at their height. It is part of the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul.

Materials: Iznik tiles, marble, painted wood, gold

Manufacture: The tiles were made in Iznik after the court’s pattern drawings and set in bands and panels.

The large panels of flowers – tulips, carnations and saz leaves – in the tiles.

The band of calligraphy running round the room.