Żygulski, Zdzisław: Ottoman art in the service of the empire (New York, NY [u.a.], 1992)

Conclusion

It is the norm that a great state, an empire, should utilize art for its
specific purposes. So it always was everywhere: in ancient China,
Egypt, and Mesopotamia, in Rome and Byzantium, in the Austria of
the Hapsburgs and the France of Louis XIV and of Napoleon. From
the fifteenth century in the Ottoman Empire art was, perhaps, even
more consistently and expansively used by the state. Art was in-
tended to create an atmosphere of pomp and ceremony, a manifes-
tation of power. It was to amaze and subdue the psyche of both
friend and foe, as well as the state's own subjects. From the taking of
Constantinople on, the design and construction of hags, tughs, cos-
tume, arms, armor, and tents were no longer left to custom and
tradition, they became a matter of law. These objects were produced
by craftsmen instructed by official authorities, the Sunna orthodox
doctrine of Islam being decisive in all questions of ideology.
The organization of the manufacture of various objects needed
for the state was based on the Persian and Byzantine patterns. Most
of the important workshops were located at the sultan's court in
Istanbul, where, along with the native Turks, they engaged Persians,
Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Hungarians, and sometimes even Ital-
ians. Production was kept under strict control, the import of raw

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