Blue Mosque tile fantasy

If Queen Victoria had asked William de Morgan to redo the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral, no expense (or tile) spared, it might have ended up looking like the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.  More familiarly known as the "Blue Mosque" after the more than 20,000 hand-made ceramic tiles that line its interior, it was built in Istanbul between 1609 and 1616.

Many of the tiles came from the town of Avanos in Cappadocia.  We visited one of the oldest ceramics businesses in town and got the soup to nuts tour, starting with the clay cave.
 

The final products.....stunning but not cheap, this plate would set you back hundreds of dollars.  I wish I had bought a few tiles at the time, if only to use as trivets...c'est la vie.

Palazzo Ducale, Urbino

(photo by Il Conte di Luna, 2007)

Since my helicopter is in the shop, I've downloaded an aerial view of Urbino and the Ducal Palace from the internet.  Duke Federigo da Montefeltro, the "Light of Italy" and still a local hero over 500 years later, built his palace in the mid-fifteenth century.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site is widely considered the perfect princely dwelling in the perfect medieval hilltop fortress town.

Here is a picture of Duke Fred, a fabled patron of the arts (including that youngster Raphael) and amasser of the second largest library in Italy after the Vatican.  One of the Renaissance's most famous Condottieri and inspiration for Machiavelli's "The Prince", the Duke was both a great warrior and leader of his people.  He lost his right eye in battle and later had surgeons cut out the bridge of his nose to improve his peripheral vision (all the better to see the assassination attempt coming at you...).

The Duke's private study.  About half the paintings of famous figures that line the upper wall are sepia photographic reproductions of originals that are now housed in the Louvre.  Monsieur Louvre, give them back!

In places like this there is always an overwhelming number of things one could photograph---in this case I decided to look down......it all just seems so perfectly Italian.

William de Morgan Tiles

"It's so McKim, Mead and Depot"

That's what my friend Dan said when he saw my recent tile job on my brick fireplace surround.  Orangey-greenish mosaic tile from Home Depot grouted with pre-mixed grey grout.  The walls are C2 "Sisal" and are not quite as green as they look in picture.  My house is a Sears American Four-Square.

and a partial "before" pic....

Tile wall, Istanbul

...and a great strip quilt pattern.  There is something profoundly beautiful about turquoise tile.

Marsh Plaza, Boston University campus

Some tiles designed by William De Morgan, one of William Morris's greatest protégés:

Fantasy mudroom floor

The perfect mudroom floor!  In the Nasrid Palace at the Alhambra.  And then I'd make the patio area outside look like the bottom pic.