Blue Mosque Courtyard, Istanbul after W.H. Bartlett, Engraving, circa 1838

A steel engraving of the courtyard of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, after W.H. Bartlett, from The Beauties of the Bosphorus.

Striped arches on slender columns frame the view across the great courtyard to the cascade of domes and the tall minarets of the mosque. A domed fountain stands at the center, a worshipper kneels in prayer in the foreground, and men in turbans, fezzes and long coats walk and talk beneath the arcades.

The plate is lettered "W.H. Bartlett" and "S. Fisher", with the title "Court of the Mosque of Sultan Achmet", the plate number 16, and the imprint "London, Published for the Proprietors, by Geo. Virtue, 26, Ivy Lane". It comes from The Beauties of the Bosphorus, with text by Julia Pardoe and plates after William Henry Bartlett, published in London by George Virtue in 1838 and 1839.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was completed in 1616 and is one of the greatest works of Ottoman architecture. Bartlett's views of Constantinople were among the first detailed images of the city that most Western readers ever saw.

A fine piece for anyone with a link to Istanbul, and a strong companion to the other Bosphorus plates in this group. The engraved image measures about 12.4 by 17.6 cm (height by width), and the margins around it carry all the original lettering, which is worth keeping visible in the mat.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.