As in many of his late works, Osman Hamdi Bey offers a detailed portrayal of an Ottoman place of worship in ‘Hodja Reading the Koran’. The composition, based on the interior of the Green Mosque [Yeşil Cami] in Bursa, portrays a bearded man in a white turban and pale yellow robe, seated in the left-hand loge of the mosque, reading the Qur’an at a low lectern [rahle]. Around him are objects characteristic of Islamic visual culture: glass oil lamps, a calligraphic panel, a Qur’an case inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and various books.
Suspended just above the marble balustrade enclosing the loge hang three mosque lamps – one of Mamluk brass, the other two Venetian glass – echoing the original furnishings of the Green Mosque. Their inclusion reveals the artist’s commitment to historical fidelity and typological accuracy, informed by careful observation and study. Behind the figure stands a low shelf bearing an elaborately crafted Qur’an case made of mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and wood, testifying to the material and artisanal refinement of Ottoman decorative arts. Several books are scattered across the lower shelf and on the floor; partially legible Ottoman Turkish inscriptions can be made out on the spines of some. These fragmented texts recall the ‘hidden signatures’ that appear in several of Osman Hamdi Bey’s works. Notably, the figure’s robe and hands remain unfinished; beneath the thin, loosely applied yellow paint of the robe, the artist’s graphite underdrawing is plainly visible to the naked eye.
The painting also reflects Osman Hamdi’s sustained engagement with the visual languages of Ottoman religious architecture, particularly tilework and calligraphy. The characteristic green-toned tiles lining the lower walls identify the space as the Green Mosque. Above these tiles, a frieze of thuluth and kufic inscriptions encircles the space, crowned by a calligraphic panel in which the phrases ‘He is forgiving and merciful’ (in black) and ‘I seek refuge in God’s forgiveness’ (in yellow) are interlaced in Arabic. Panels of this kind appear in several of Osman Hamdi Bey’s compositions; one such example is held today in the SSM Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection (SSM 130-0572). Just below, inscribed in white on the tile border, is the phrase ‘If the mountains and the sky were to split apart’ – an allusion to Qur’anic verses that evoke apocalyptic rupture and divine awe. A second line, written in yellow above it, remains undeciphered.
The carpet that extends across the loge floor recalls the typology of nineteenth-century prayer rugs in both pattern and palette, lending a sense of architectural and devotional coherence to the scene. ‘Hodja Reading the Koran’ stands among Osman Hamdi’s attentive studies of historical architecture and Islamic calligraphic tradition – offering a layered meditation on faith, material culture, and the act of looking.
