Album of Photographs of Views of the Interior of the Ottoman Military Museum in the Former Church of St. Irene, Constantinople (Vues de Sainte Irène, Constantinople)

Abdullah Frères

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Photographs by the firm of Abdullah Frères (1858–99), official photographers to the Ottoman court, provide a visual record of Istanbul and its monuments in the late nineteenth century. The present album contains thirty-three images of the exterior and interior of the former Byzantine church of St. Irene, which served from the late fifteenth century as the imperial Ottoman arsenal and from the end of the nineteenth century as the Turkish Military Museum. The photographs provide invaluable documentation of the arsenal’s displays of armor and weapons, including examples of Mamluk, Persian, and Ottoman origin, as well as some European arms, which today remain unpublished and largely unstudied.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.

Metropolitan Museum of Art