The Turkish Hammam from the eyes of the Western painters

Turkish Baths have attracted the attention of Europeans and Americans beginning from the sixteenth century, through the expressions of the voyagers who had visited to Turkey. The attention to Turkish Baths still continues intensely. The first visiting place is the hammam for tourists that come to Turkey.Voyagers such as Luigi Bassano, Pierre Bellon, August Friedrich Schweigger have mentioned with praise about the Turkish Baths and the cleaning rituals of Turks in their works.
During that period, the pictures of the Turkish Hammams have been painted by the Western painters because of the ban of painting in the Islamic religion.
The British ambassador and the author David Urquhart's book ''The Pillars of Hercules'' has collected a great interest in the UK in 1850. Turkish Baths have been promoted in the book. The opening of the Turkish Baths has been proposed in Britain's industrial regions.
In 1856, the first Turkish Hammam has been opened in Ireland with the efforts of Urquhart's. In the following years, Turkish Baths have been commissioned also in England, America and Australia.

Some examples of Turkish Hammam themed paintings of Western artists