Ottoman ship figures between XVI. century - XIX. century

The ships developed gradually through the navigation culture from Antiquity to this date have a major role in the growth of the Ottoman and its becoming an empire.Improving its interest on navigation from the years of incorporation and applying all the technical infrastructure of the era on its ships, the Ottoman Empire proved their enemies that they also had a power on the seas by triumphing over the seas.The naval ships built in Tersane-i Amire (Head Shipyard) from the ascending eras of the Ottoman in a glorious way became an inspiration for the artists of the era. The ship figures that are encountered in many fields of art today provide us to see the magnificence of the Ottoman over seas.It is understood that the various figures wealthy in content that appear in many fields from miniatures to grave stones had influenced many artists for ages.In consequent with the Westernizing efforts of the Ottoman that became more intense after the Tulip Era, many artists projected their own styles at Nefise-i Sanayi-i Hümayun (School of Fine Arts). Reflection of many ship figures encountered in miniatures to paintings with the painture technique reveals the success of the Ottoman over navigation today. It is such that, the ships depicted from the view of the foreign artists reflected those days to this date in a very striking way generally with war scenes and boats used in the daily life of the Bosporus.In the light of the library studies and the data obtained from visual sources, the ship figures embedded in every field of art were grouped and handled according to the types of ships, and the result was reached with induction method.It was seen that the ship figures formed a rich variety over the navigation and art of the Ottoman in every field of art with the use of colors by the local and foreign artists in their depictions and the natural appearances of the ship figures. Depiction of the types of ships of the same class from different aspects gives us information about how the artists of that era reflect their point of view about seas.Visual sources are the greatest heritage to be moved to the future for ages due to their enlightening and informative features in the historical process.Key Words1 ? Ottoman2 ? Navigation3 ? Ship4 ? Art5 ? Figure