Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires
Tickets are sold on Victoria and Albert Museum website
Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires takes place on Monday, 7 September 2026, 10:00.
Details
- Date:
- Venue: V&A South Kensington
- Language: English
- Organiser: Dear Turkey
About this event
A major UK-first exhibition exploring 1,600 years of extraordinary art and design, offering a compelling new perspective on a city defined by artistic excellence across more than a millennium.
Exhibition highlights;
'Veroli Casket' with mythological scenes, maker unknown, 2nd half of 10th century, Byzantine"
Enkolpion of Constantinos, proedros, 11th century, Byzantine Empire
Ucetek entari, featuring a laid cord technique
'Ladies Taking a Walk', painting, by Osman Hamdi Bey, 1887
(Detail:) Ottoman processional scroll, 17th century
Velvet covering, Bursa, second half of 16th century, Athens, Greece
Coffee pot, maker unknown, 1800 – 50, Turkey (probably Istanbul), copper, silver gilt and chased with floral ornament
Long-necked lute (tambur), maker unknown, about 1750, Turkey
'Aya Sofia Constantinople', hand-coloured lithograph, by Gaspare Fossati, published by P. & D. Colnaghi, 1852, London
'The Sultan riding out in procession to Friday Prayers', watercolour by anonymous Greek artist, about 1809, Istanbul, Turkey
Lincoln Typikon of the Convent of the Virgin of Sure Hope. MS. Gr. 35 10v-11r
Bracelet, early Byzantine, around AD 600, Syria
Medal, bust of Emperor John Palaeologus of Constantinople, by Pisanello, after 1438 – 89, Italy
Ivory relief panel with arrival of relics, possibly 5th century, Trier Cathedral, Germany, Treasury, Markus Groß-Morgen