The Süleymaniye Mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566) and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An inscription specifies the foundation date as 957 AH / 1550 CE and the inauguration date as 964 AH / 1557 CE, although work on the complex continued for a few years after this (Necipoğlu, 2005, p. 208). The construction books relating to the mosque show that stucco windows with coloured glass were included originally, when the mosque was erected. Even the name of the craftsman responsible for the stucco and glass windows is documented: Sarhoş Ibrahim (Ibrahim the Drunkard). The meticulous records kept during the construction provide numerous details regarding the origin and type of the glass used in the windows (Flood, 1993, p. 170; Bakirer, 1985, S. 151).
It is supposed that the nine inner windows around the mihrab are preserved in their original design (Flood, 1993, p. 168–169; Irteş, 2007, pp. 296, 298). Five arched windows of three different sizes are arranged around the mihrab, and on either side a round window above a further arched window. They are composed of several compartments, containing floral arabesques and inscriptions. During a restoration in 1959, pieces of glass that had fallen off were reinserted, and new pieces of glass were added where they had been lost, though the design of the windows was not changed (Irteş, 2007, pp. 296, 298).
In 1837, the Austrian orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774–1856) mentioned the windows, made by the famous master-glazier Ibrahim (‘der berühmte Glasermeister Serchosch Ibrahim’; von Hammer-Purgstall, 1837, p. 108). In 1856–1857, the British architect William Burges travelled to Istanbul and made colour drawings of the stucco and glass windows of the mosque (Burges, 1858, p. 89, see IG_189).

Necipoğlu, G. (2005). The age of Sinan. Architectural culture in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Mülayim, S. (ed.) (2007). Bir Şaheser Süleymaniye Külliyesi, Ankara: T. C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları.

Irteş, S. (2007). Kalemişi, Cam ve Revzen. In S. Mülayim (Ed.), Bir Şaheser Süleymaniye Külliyesi (pp. 293–328). T. C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları.

Flood, F. B. (1993). Palaces of crystal, sanctuaries of light: windows, jewels and glass in medieval islamic architecture [PhD thesis, University of Edinburg]. Edinburgh College of Art thesis and dissertation collection. https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/19754

Bakirer, Ö. (1985). Ottoman Glass Manufacture and Venetian Impacts. In H. Filitz & M. Pippal (Eds.), Europa und die Kunst des Islam. 15. bis 18. Jahrhundert. Leitung der Sektion: Oleg Grabar (Akten des XXV. Internationalen Kongresses für Kunstgeschichte V) (pp. 147–157). Böhlau.

Burges, W. (1858). Architectural experiences at Constantinople. The Builder, vol. XVI, n° 783–784, pp. 88–90, 104–108.

Von Hammer-Purgstall, J. (1837). Kern der Osmanischen Reichsgeschichte. Leipzig: Hartleben.