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mately, the Fossatis’ studies would not be published until more than a century
later. 5 Out of respect for Muslim religious customs prohibiting the representation
of humans, the figural mosaic panels were re-covered with plaster and painted (Fig.
4). The Fossatis left the ornamental Justinianic mosaics exposed and painted areas
of missing tesserae with images matching the surviving patterns. After completing
the project, Gaspare Fossati published an album of lithographs made from his
watercolors, including the exterior and interior of Hagia Sophia, and dedicated it
to Sultan Abdul Medjid in 1852 (Figs. 5-7). 6
Thomas Whittemore claimed that Hagia Sophia’s mosaics have survived
largely due to the work of the Fossatis. 7 The extent of their consolidation and
5 See Mango, Mosaics, figs. 6, 9, 10-13, 15-16, 20-35, 42-46, 48-51, 52, 55, 57, 61, 63, 69, 71, 73-78,
80-89, 92-102, 104-5, 113-17.
6 G. Fossati, Aya Sofia, Constantinople, as Recently Restored by Order of H. M. the Sultan Abdul-Medjid.
From the Original Drawings by Chevalier Gaspard Fossati, lithographed by Louis Haghe (London,
1852).
7 T. Whittemore, The Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul. Preliminary Report on the First Year’s Work,
1931-1932: The Mosaics of the Narthex (Oxford, 1933), 9, hereafter Whittemore, First Preliminary
Report.
3
Fossati drawing of the emperor John V
Palaeologus in the eastern arch, north side
The mosaic of this emperor, who ruled
from 1341 to 1391, has only recently
been uncovered. It dates to ca. 1354.
(after Mango, Mosaics, fig. 97)
9