Turkish miniatures

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Turkish

Miniatures

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In 1515 S elim I d e feated the Persians u n d e r the fir s t S afavid r u le r Is m a il I at the Battle o f C h ald ira n a n d le vied as trib u te m any o f the m o s t s k ille d c ra fts m e n c o n ne cte d w ith bo ok p ro d u c tio n . These in c lu d e d a rtists, illu m in a to rs , c a llig ra p ­ hers a n d b o okb ind ers, a n d it is re c o rd e d tha t o v e r seven h u n d re d fa m ilie s were taken to Ista bu l in 1516-17.

The T u rk is h a rtis ts were soon to develop th e ir own styles however.The subjects o f battles, at sea a n d o n land, o f encam pm ents a n d palace a c tiv itie s a re illu s tra te d w ith troops, boats, tents o r c o u rtie rs ranged in row s againts a b a c k g ro u n d o f fo rtre ss, c ity o r palace. A s m a lle r range o f colou rs, h a rd e r than that em p lo yed by Persian artists, was used, a n d pe op le were d e p ic te d rea listica lly, o ften to the p o in t o f c a rica tu re . The long neck is a c h a ra c te ris tic o f T u rk is h people seen in m in iatu re s, a n d is very obvious in a T u rk is h copy o f the Husrev ve Ş irin , a po em by the Persian po et N izam i. This m a n u scrip t, o f ab o u t 1550-60, is also in te re stin g in having tria n g u la r th u m b pieces on every page, in each o f w hich is a p a in tin g in g o ld o f a c a ric a tu re d T urkish face, m y th ic a l b ird s a n d beasts, T itrk is h c o u rt o fficia ls, a n d o th e r m o tifs such as flowers.

The encyclopaedia Aja ’ ib al-m akhla- qat, (The W onders o f CreationI, was tra n s la te d in to T u rk is h by S u ru ri. This w o rk in clud es sections on astronom y, astrology, m ountains, rivers, flo ra , fauna a n d m on stro sitie s, a n d is a never-ending sou rce o f in s p ira tio n to artists.

Topkapi Sarayt M useum also has a re m a rka b le c o lle c tio n o f c h ro n ic le m a n u scrip ts co n c e rn e d w ith the Sultans joum evs, cam pigns, a n d d o m e s tic an d c o u rt life. The cam paign m in ia tu re s have the names o f places a n d b u ild in g s w ritte n on them, w hich is typica l o f the p ro fe s s io n a lis m o f the T urkish c h ro n ic le illu s tra to rs , who no d o u b t were also cartographers. No section on c h ro n ic le illu s tra tio n s w o u ld be c o m p le te w ith ou t m e n tio n o f the re m a rk a b le S urnam e m a n u s c rip ts in Topkapi Sa r a y M useum Library. These unique m an u s c rip ts are a h is to ria n s dream , f o r they illu s tra te \iv id ly c o n te m p o ra ry trades, costum es a n d recre atio ns