Page 101 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

the petals. In contrast to the severe, suicidal tendency of the
previous example, the artist here depicted perpetual and mul-
tiplying growth, full of life and rejuvenation.
Saz leaves and blossoms were frequently combined with
fantastic creatures, such as chilins and senmurvs, whose
origins can be traced to eastern or central Asian art. One of
the drawings (45c) shows a chilin and a senmurv about to
attack one another in a dreamlike landscape also occupied by
a large saz leaf that sprouts hatayi blossoms and buds from its
edges and twists across the sheet, piercing itself. The senmurv
swoops toward the chilin, which rushes to meet it, their im-
minent clash briefly forestalled by the leaf. Both the animals
and the floral motifs are rendered with bold and delicate
strokes, highlighted with gold, and tinted with washes of gray
and blue. The whole effect is one of a unified composition
where all living entities are treated alike.
A more intense confrontation appears in yet another tinted
drawing (45d) from the same album, in which the next two
ingredients of the saz repertoire, the lion and the dragon,
make their appearance. The equally matched creatures are
engaged in a life-and-death combat, testing their strength by
locking their jaws on each other, totally oblivious to the
dense floral scroll engulfing them. The scroll, growing from a
cluster of leaves on the lower right, bears the same type of
leaves and blossoms described above, with at least nine birds
hidden in the foliage. Sketchy cloud formations above and
below suggest that this timeless battle takes place in a physi-
cal setting equally undefined.
A folio removed from another imperial album (46) displays
the most masterful rendition of this theme and is possibly the
largest as well as the earliest of Ottoman dragon drawings. It
represents a ferocious beast, its body entangled in foliage, its
claws tearing the leaves and branches while launching an at-
tack on a creature that appears to be a part of the flora. The
45c. Floral composition with senmurv and chilin from an album, mid- same zoomorphic transformation occurs with the head of a
sixteenth century (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Miizesi, H. 2147, fol. 2la)
lion that evolves from a branch and clamps its jaws onto the
neck of the dragon. The sprays of flowers, compound blos-
soms, and feathery leaves that break, pierce, twist, intersect,
or overlap one another are extremely well-executed, creating
a beautifully balanced composition that fuses the foliage with
the creatures.
In spite of its vicious and terrifying aspect, there is a feeling
of awe and even majesty in the representation of the dragon,
which is engaged in endless combat with the spirits of its en-
vironment. The symbolism of scenes such as this one is not
clearly understood, but one feels the impact of a strong myst-
ical and shamanistic tradition that was preoccupied with the
eternal struggle of supernatural forces.
The drawing belongs to a large group of dragons collected
in the Istanbul albums, singular examples of which are pres-
ently in American and European museums. Two of these of-
fer clues in identifying the name of an artist. The first is a
badly damaged drawing (see fig. 8) that bears the seal of §ah-

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