Aya Sophia No.2
Medium
drypoint on blue-green paper
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.7446
Art Historical Context
**Aya Sophia No. 2** by Louis Conrad Rosenberg captures the majestic interior of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, of the world's greatest architectural marvels, in a delicate 1927 drypoint print. Created during Rosenberg's travels through Europe and the Near East, work belongs to a series celebrating the basilica's soaring domes and intricate Byzantine details—a testament to the artist's fascination with historic architecture. At the time, Hagia Sophia stood as a mosque under the early Turkish Republic, symbolizing centuries of cultural fusion between Christianity and Islam. Rosenberg's mastery shine...
About the Artist
Louis Conrad Rosenberg
Louis Conrad Rosenberg (1890–1983), born in Portland, Oregon, to Charles and Hannah Rosenberg, emerged as one of America's foremost architectural etchers, blending his training as an architect with masterful printmaking. A precocious draftsman from childhood, he apprenticed under T. Chapell Brown in Portland starting at age sixteen in 1906, advancing to draftsman under mentor Ellis Fuller Lawrence...