14th-Century Anatolian Gothic: Thriller or Horror Story?, lecture by Scott Redford (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), The Courtauld, April 27, 2016, 5:30–7:00 pm

This talk will examine some examples of Gothic and Gothicising architecture in 14th century Anatolia. Anatolia was largely in the hands of small to medium sized Turko-Islamic principalities, and Islamic architecture of the 14th century is not usually a place to look for the Gothic. But Anatolia was surrounded by Gothic buildings–in Venetian and Hospitaler controlled islands in the Aegean, and in Lusignan Cyprus. Reasons for this surprising trend will be examined, with attention focusing on one building, the Sungur Bey mosque in Niğde, which dates from the fourth decade of the 14th century.

Scott Redford is the Nasser D. Khalili Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published extensively on the archaeology, art history, architecture, and epigraphy of the medieval eastern Mediterranean, especially Anatolia. His latest book, Legends of Authority: The 1215 Seljuk Inscriptions of Sinop Citadel, Turkey, was published by Koç University Press in 2014. He is currently working on the final publication of the medieval levels from Bilkent University excavations at the site of Kinet Höyük in Turkey's Hatay province.