study of the qibla tiling indicates that turquoise was the greenest hue available to the mosque’s builders prior to the addition of that emerald green. Some of the tiles, particularly those in a large panel under the portico to the left main entrance, are decorated with sage green and dark manganese purple that are characteristic of the earlier 'Damascus ware' colour scheme. Yet the mosque’s tiling does not feature the olive green found to be characteristic of Damascus tiles. No other mosque makes such a lavish use of İznik tiles; with later mosques Sinan used tiles more sparingly. According to Willis, some of the tiles in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque are of European origin (specifically Italian and Dutch) and also date to the eighteenth century. The Qibla Wall and Mihrab The Rüstem Pasha Mosque’s qibla wall includes a number of new and experimental painting styles in addition to the traditional ceramic tiles. This is consistent with the mosque’s unique emphasis on İznik tiles and parallels other buildings designed by Sinan, such as the Süleymaniye Complex. Walter B. Denny hypothesizes that this could have been “deemed a project too large for one designer,” and that several other aspiring architects added to Sinan’s contributions. The qibla wall features mostly blue tiles in a variety of shades, including turquoise and cobalt. Some Armenian bole is used as an “accent,” adding to the general theme of blueness in this section of the mosque. These tiles are almost all “repeating modules” and do not appear to be specially designed for the Rüstem Pasha Mosque. Emblematic is the Rüstem Pasha Border, which consists of cobalt tiles, a white rosace, and turquoise embellishments, and recurs throughout the mosque. The tiles in this section feature rose buds, lotus palmettes, and leaves, consistent with the floral decoration characteristic of this mosque. Despite these details, the qibla tiling is relatively simple: most of the details utilize only two shades of paint, both blue (known as “two-blue” painting), which results in a somewhat monotonous presentation. Inset in the wall is a mihrab shaped like a half-dodecagon. Between the two mihrab frames rests a panel featuring calligraphy; above them, there are three windows. The repeating tile patterns are shaped to conform to the structure of the mosque, so many are cut in unusual and arbitrary ways. For example, the bottom of the mihrab tiles are cut arbitrarily when they reach the floor.