Dr. Ayşe Aldemir, Manager of the Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, has published an article titled “Ottoman Tastemaker Robert-Sadia Pardo and a Sixteenth-Century Prayer Rug in The Met” in the annual publication of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the MET Journal.
With this article, Dr. Ayşe Aldemir has made an impact in the international academic sphere by examining Robert-Sadia Pardo, a figure in the Ottoman art world. Published in the MET Journal, her study explores the story of a 16th-century prayer rug and delves into Pardo’s role in the Ottoman art market.
Dr. Aldemir’s article, featured in the MET Journal, analyzes Pardo’s life, which spanned from Istanbul to Paris, his commercial achievements, expertise in carpet collecting, and international network. Additionally, it describes the process behind Pardo’s restoration and transfer of a 16th-century Ottoman prayer rug to New York.
The article offers a comprehensive examination of how merchants operating in the Ottoman art market influenced Western museum collections and the economic and cultural cycle that facilitated the movement of Islamic artworks to the West.
Dr. Ayşe Aldemir, a distinguished scholar in art history, began her academic journey in the Art History Department at Hacettepe University, graduating as the top student in 1999. She continued her graduate studies at Bilkent University’s Department of Archaeology and History of Art before being awarded a scholarship by Sabancı University in 2000 to pursue conservation training in Italy. In 2003, she completed her studies at Palazzo Spinelli, Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro in Florence, and then returned to Istanbul.
She earned her master’s degree in Art Management from Yeditepe University in 2009 and obtained her Ph.D. in Turkish-Islamic Arts from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2021. Since 2003, she has served as the Manager of the Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Dr. Aldemir is recognized for her research on the Ottoman art market, Islamic art, and collecting practices.
Dr. Ayşe Aldemir’s article, published in the MET Journal of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is an academic resource on Ottoman art and the history of collecting.
