Ottoman (Osmanli) army and the political iconography in the 17th and 18th century in continental Croatia

Pojava i način prikaza osmanskih vojnika u umjetnosti kontinentalne Hrvatske tijekom 17. i 18. stoljeća označeni su povijesnim kontekstom: ratovima i sukobima. Na primjer, rimski vojnici u prizorima raspeća odjeveni su kao zamišljene Osmanlije; slično je naslikan Dioskur, poganski otac ranokršćanske djevice mučenice sv. Barbare; trinaestostoljetnoga sveca Franju Asiškoga tijekom misionarskoga pohoda u Siriju zarobili su – ponovo – »osmanski vojnici«. Janjičari, spahije i pokoji alajbeg ušli su u slikarstvo i skulpturu kroz dramaturški nemoguće situacije i bili su predstavljeni različitim biblijskim i hagiografskim naracijama koje im nisu pripadale. Ikonografski negativci odjeveni su u vojne odore Osmanskoga Carstva, jer to je vrlo moćno sredstvo političke propagande. Za razliku od takvoga umjetničkoga egzorcizma vlastitih strahova umjetnika, naručitelja i publike, očekivanoga na promjenjivoj granici prema moćnom Carstvu, postoje i suprotni primjeri koji potvrđuju fascinaciju Osmanlijama, islamom, i zavodljivom kulturom koja se raširila Europom u valu poznatom kao turska moda (francuski turquerie, talijanski turcomania, alla Turca, njemački Turkomanie) čije začetke nalazimo u Tizianovim slikama i djelima venecijanskih umjetnika 16. stoljeća.Visual representations of Ottomans (Osmanli) and their army in continental Croatia during the 17th and 18th century was clearly marked by the historical context, i.e. by ongoing wars and military confl icts. For example, Roman soldiers that were present at the Crucifi xion were dressed as imaginary Ottomans; Dioscorus, pagan father of the early Christian virgin martyr St Barbara was painted alike; thirteen century saint Francis from Assisi was captured during his mission to Syria – again – by Ottomans... Soldiers of the Ottoman Empire entered to the painting and sculpture in dramaturgically impossible situations, and they were represented in a whole range of biblical and hagiographical narratives that did not belong to them. Negative iconographical stereotypes applied to contemporary military enemies, offered to artists, patrons and public in continental Croatia a mighty tool of political propaganda. Unlike this artistic exorcism of proper fears, expectable on the changing border toward the powerful Empire, there are also different examples that prove the existence of the fascination by Ottomans, Islam, and the seductive culture that spread Europe in a wave known as Turkish fashion (French turquerie, Italian alla Turca, German Turkomanie) that can be traced to the works of Titian and Venetian painters of the 16th century