Rüstem Pasha
Sinan’s architecture is known for emphasizing the structure of his buildings over the internal aesthetics, such as the tiling. The Rüstem Pasha Mosque marked a substantial deviation from his typical style (and traditional Ottoman architecture) as it relied heavily on İznik tiling instead of having a more sparse interior. The Anatolian town of İznik was the heart of the Ottoman ceramics industry, which became a central component of the empire’s artistic production after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. While it has been theorized that the tiling may have been inspired by Sinan’s wife Mihrimah, it could also be that Rüstem Pasha himself requested the tiling for economic reasons and to support a court artist specializing in floral designs.