Aya Sofia Constantinople, London, 1852, morocco-backed cloth boards - photo 1
Aya Sofia Constantinople, London, 1852, morocco-backed cloth boards - photo 2
Aya Sofia Constantinople, London, 1852, morocco-backed cloth boards - photo 3

Aya Sofia Constantinople, London, 1852, morocco-backed cloth boards

Lot 138
21.09.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 11 430
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1028439
Lot 138 | Aya Sofia Constantinople, London, 1852, morocco-backed cloth boards
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 000
Aya Sofia Constantinople: as recently restored by order of H.M. the Sultan Abdul Medjid. London: Colnaghi & Co., 1852

First edition, large folio (556 x 372mm.), lithographed title and 25 hand-coloured lithographed plates, publisher's maroon morocco-backed cloth boards, closed tear at outer margin of final plate (extending into image), text loose, stained with slight wear, repairs to spine ends

Court architect to the Russian royal family, Fossati travelled to Constantinople in 1837 to work on the building of the Russian Embassy. He completed the project in 1845 and entered the service of the Porte, designing the archives building, the telegraph-office, the hospital of the Ministry of War, as well as churches and private villas. In 1847, he was charged with the restoration of Hagia Sophia: this took two years and involved the removal of buttresses which had been added to protect the structure and the uncovering of valuable mosaics. The mosaics were subsequently covered up and are not illustrated in the present work. Fossati intended to publish a separate work on the mosaics, but this never materialised.
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