Digital Iconographic Routes through the Ottoman and Safavid Worlds

Objective

knOttS aims to provide the first systematic iconographic & iconological analysis of portraits and images of the Ottomans/Turks and Safavids, as well as their culture, society, and ideas. Focusing on the period 1400-1762, and supported by a dedicated digital system, it addresses three interrelated specific objectives: 1) to reconstruct the Ottomans’ and Safavids’ iconographic legacy by collecting, labelling, and systematising a representative sample of a larger data set; 2) to propose a new periodisation to highlight key points in the development of these representations by following the (art-)historical issue of their truthfulness, thus mapping the metamorphoses of this iconographic phenomenon; 3) to critically assess the visual and cultural assumptions underlying the construction of these images from a transcultural perspective, tracking their flow within the Mediterranean basin. The project is innovative: it investigates a pan-Mediterranean phenomenon through a non-traditional approach, bringing together European, Ottoman, Persian, global, intellectual, emotional, and cultural history, thus providing new elements for the understanding of collective identities. It is timely: it explores crucial issues, such as Muslim Otherness and Western cultural and social stereotypes referring to the Islamic Worlds, aiming to overcome a Eurocentric analytical perspective by comparing Western and Islamic depictions of Muslim subjects. knOttS sits at the intersection of the History of Renaissance, Ottoman, and Safavid Arts; Iconography & Iconology; Early Modern Studies; Ottoman & Turkish Studies; Persian & Iranian Studies. It will be hosted by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the University at Buffalo, SUNY, with a secondment at the University of Vienna. The prestige of this Fellowship would significantly enhance the researcher’s career perspectives, expanding her field of expertise and developing her leadership, research management, and language skills.