Page 27 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

Sinan's most spectacular complex was built for Süleyman The Ehl-i Hiref was structured and administered in the
between 1550 and 1557. Called the Süleymaniye, it consisted same manner as the other bureaus of the state. Its members
of over a dozen buildings arranged around a mosque and in- were the elite and by far the most influential, although there
cluded four medreses (universities), a college of medicine, ele- existed a large number of other artists and craftsmen practic-
mentary and secondary schools, a hospital, hospice, imaret ing in the capital. 12 Artists also resided in provincial centers,
(soup kitchen), bath, shops, cemetery, and mausoleums for some of which specialized in the production of particular
the sultan and his wife, together with residences for students, wares; for instance, Bursa was prolific in the manufacture of
staff, and caretakers. The mosque is a most impressive struc- textiles, iznik supplied most of the state's need for ceramics
ture, its central dome hovering over scores of smaller domes and tiles, and U§ak was the center of rug weaving. No doubt
that cascade to the ground. The edifice was decorated with artisans were employed in all the major cities of the empire
tiles, carved stonework, inlaid woodwork, stained glass win- to supply local needs.
dow panels, pile rugs, and thousands of glass lamps. 11 Since Ottoman art was highly centralized, the designs cre-
In addition, Süleyman commissioned Sinan to build a ated for the court soon spread all over the empire. These de-
medrese in memory of his father, Selim I, as well as mosques signs originated from the nakka§hane, which formulated the
and attached buildings to commemorate his sons, Mehmed decorative vocabulary of the age. The heterogeneous nature
and Cihangir. His daughter Mihrimah employed the architect of this society led to an extremely energetic artistic produc-
as did his wife Hürrem, who was in fact the first to hire him. tion, its members experimenting with newly formulated
In 1538/1539 Sinan constructed for her a complex in the Ak- themes and concepts and showing a total open-mindedness
saray district of Istanbul, and later he designed a large and to innovative ideas. The artists reinterpreted existing themes
most remarkable bath, with separate units for men and and created fresh approaches to surface decoration.
women, facing the At Meydani outside the Topkapi Palace. They revitalized the traditional floral scrolls with undulat-
Sinan was also commissioned by such dignitaries as the ing branches bearing hatayi blossoms and buds or rumi
grand vezirs íbrahim, Rüstem, and Sokollu Mehmed to build leaves. The hatayi blossom, which resembles a stylized lotus
for them similar compounds. rendered in profile, took its name from Hatay, meaning east-
Süleyman sponsored a number of other building activities, ern or central Asia, where this motif was thought to have
including waterworks and bridges in Istanbul and elsewhere; originated. The word rumi, applied to a stylized split leaf, re-
constructed a complex in Damascus; restored the Dome of ferred to Rum, that is, to the lands of the Eastern Roman
the Rock in Jerusalem; and renovated and redecorated the Empire, more specifically to Anatolia, where it was popularly
Kaaba in Mecca. He also endowed several religious and char- employed in Seljuk art. Both the hatayi and rumi, used in the
itable institutions in Hürrem's name and assigned the income Islamic world since the thirteenth century, became a major
from several towns and villages to maintain them. ingredient in Ottoman decoration. Other traditional motifs in-
The sultan was deeply involved with educational and artis- cluded cloud bands with thin bands of scrolling cloud forma-
tic activities of the state despite his heavy commitments to tions, also employed in other Islamic courts; and the çinte-
administrative, judicial, military, and diplomatic tasks. He mani pattern, which consisted of a series of triple balls, often
personally supervised the curricula in the universities; he ex- accompanied with a pair of wavy lines, representing the spots
panded studies in mathematics and medicine, projecting the and stripes of leopard and tiger skins. Its origin and meaning
need for future engineers and physicians. He scrutinized the are not well-enough known, but the pattern had talismanic
activities of the writers and artists, studying their works with implications and symbolized imperial power among the Turk-
care. He is said to have read overnight Ali Çelebi's Humayun- ish tribes.
name (Book of kings), the Turkish translation of the classical The two most innovative design concepts that evolved dur-
Arabic book on princely behavior; he carefully went over ing the reign of Süleyman were the saz style and the natural-
some thirty thousand verses of his own biography, the Süley- istic genre. The saz style, abstracted from drawings that re-
manname (Book of Süleyman), which was written in Persian created an enchanted forest inhabited by mythical creatures,
verse. He took time to inspect the works of the artists and he was applied to scrolls with compound hatayis and long feath-
rewarded them. ery leaves impregnated with additional florals, twisting, turn-
The flourishing artistic activities in Istanbul created a need ing, intersecting, and piercing one another in a turbulent
for competent artists and craftsmen, and they came from all manner. The naturalistic genre, in contrast, represented
corners of the empire to seek employment in the most glo- peaceful paradise gardens with a profusion of realistic flora,
rious of all capitals. Some joined the artisans' guilds in the depicting flowering fruit trees and bunches of roses, tulips,
city, while others were admitted into the Ehl-i Hiref (Com- carnations, hyacinths, and other spring flowers.
munity of the Talented), which was formally attached to the These three approaches to decorative arts were formulated
Birun and included men of all trades, from calligraphers to in the nakka§hane and flourished in the mid-sixteenth cen-
cobblers, whose duty it was to serve the palace. tury. The traditional mode was eventually superseded by the

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