The Latin Cathedral of St Nicholas (Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque) was known in the early 20th century as Küçük Ayasofya (small St. Sophia). Quite often, it was erroneously noted in travelogues and prints as St. Marks Cathedral by western visitors. It took the name Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque on 14th August 1954. The minaret that appears in the watercolour was added in 1571 before being hit by lightning and replaced in 1930.
In front of the mosque, the artist depicts the seven-hundred-year-old ficus sycomorus, locally known as cümbez tree. It produced a fruit that resembled the mandarin and the fig and was known as the ‘fig of the Pharaohs’. A number of shacks appear in front of the cathedral. These were cleared away in the 1930s and 40s. In the background, the dome of the Turkish school is visible.
There is little doubt that the figures seen wandering in the square in front of the mosque are Turks. Although the dark pantaloons and the fez marked the attire of the Greeks in the 19th century, by the early 20th century, these were also adopted by the Turks. The inclusion of the figures helped highlight the scale of the monument depicted in the painting.
John Codrington was born in England in 1898. He had a career as a British Army officer, but his true passions were gardens and watercolour paintings, which he never exhibited, thus leaving nearly 4.000 pictures to his nephew when he died.
PNT-00111 > Codrington, John (1898-1991), St. Nicholas Cathedral, Watercolour, 26x36 cm, ca. 1923
