This course is an introduction to the art and architecture of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbor and rival to the east, Safavid Iran, during the 16th?17th century heyday of both. We will consider how each empire used artistic means ? architecture, painting, decoration, and other arts ? to put its own distinctive perceptual stamp on the world within its reach. To this end, it considers a number of major works (as well as some minor ones) of each dynasty in a constellation of contexts: political, cultural, stylistic. A running theme will be the notion that art serves ''power'' and how this paradigm has affected the study of Ottoman and Safavid art history.