Uidentificeret moské med 1 minaret, t.v. højt træ 1570

This is Melchior Lorck’s 1570 woodcut print, “Unidentified Mosque with 1 Minaret, tall tree to the left.” Lorck was the first Danish artist to visit Turkey, and he spent four years in Constantinople during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. This work offers a glimpse into the complex cultural exchanges of the 16th century. Lorck, as a European Christian, was an outsider in the Ottoman Empire. His depiction of the mosque is thus infused with the dynamics of cultural difference and the power relations inherent in the act of representation. The print provides insight into early cultural encounters between Europe and the Ottoman world. While seemingly objective, Lorck’s detailed rendering of the mosque can be seen as both a mode of documentation and a form of appropriation. What did it mean for a European artist to represent Islamic architecture? And how did these images shape European perceptions of the ‘Orient’? This print is a potent reminder of the intricate interplay between seeing, knowing, and representing across cultural divides.