A WALK THROUGH ORIENTAL GARDENS
A Syrian fountain panel XVllC Every time I have seen any kind of Arabic and Oriental art, I feel strangely attracted to it. Firstly it was in Turkey where my Mother introduced me to Iznik ceramics. In Istanbul alone examples of İznik tiling can be seen in at least 40 mosques, in the Hagia Sophia complex, and certain buildings of the Topkapı Palace complex such as the Circumcision room and the Baghdad Kiosk. It was of course the Topkapi Palace where we spent a lot of time as I did later on, during a visit with Jerome and Laurent. I doubt if we visited the 40 mosques but I have certainly seen a lot of Oriental art in my time.
When I made the remark to Laurent yesterday that it was a culture that attracted me more than the Asian, Indian or Thai, he suggested that perhaps it was closer to our way of thinking. I’m not so sure about that. From my point of view it is not so detailed and fine lined as we see in Temples …..l feel more comfortable. Not surprising then that we