Melchior Lorichs: Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Kanuni Sultan Süleyman devrinde bir sanatçı

This thesis examines the life of Melchior Lorichs and his works depicting the Ottoman Empire. Melchior Lorichs was a Danish artist who came to the Ottoman Empire with the embassy delegation of the Holy Roman Empire, led by ambassador Busbecq in 1555. His detailed drawings about the Ottoman Empire make him invaluable for historians and art historians. Today, his panorama of Constantinople and his portrait of Süleyman the Magnificent are widely known and used. In addition, his drawings of several buildings and monuments such as the Old Fatih Mosque and the Base of the Column of Constantine are used as documents for these buildings which have not survived. Unfortunately Melchior Lorichs was not able to publish all of his drawings about the Ottoman Empire during his lifetime. He published a book called: Soldan Soleyman Turkischen Khaysers? whare und eigendtliche contrafectung und bildtnuss, the last copy of which was destroyed during the World War II. Fortunately his drawings were used after his death and in 1626 a book containing his drawings was published entitled Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren. It is the aim of this thesis to analyze a group of the drawings from this book and some, which have survived, from his first book. The thesis also includes a summary of interactions with Europe to the time of his visit in order to give the social and political background of the period. The usage of Melchior Lorichs?s studies of architecture and antiquities are discussed in view of reconstructing lost monuments.