Page 279 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

206 (above). Tile with saz scroll, second half sixteenth century (Paris, Musée 207 (right). Tombstone with floral spray (both sides), second half sixteenth
du Louvre, 3919/2/287) century (London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 862-1901)

sprays, sprout buds and blossoms, and overlap and/or pierce lobed medallion with pendants recalls those used both in
one another. The cutting of the elements by the frame sug- bookbindings and dedicatory pages in manuscripts.
gests that the scroll extends beyond the panel and that what On the lower portion on one of the sides are pairs of roses,
is captured here is only a portion of an infinitely larger tulips, and sprays of hyacinth; two long rosebushes filled
design. with buds and pods grow around the central oval and termi-
The sinuous rhythm of the composition and the self- nate at the top with large blossoms. Cloud bands appear
assurance, power, and virtuosity of brushwork indicate that a along the edges and a rumi cartouche enclosing a blossom
master painter conceived it. An identical piece, in the Harvard appears at the apex of the arch. On the other side are the
University Art Museums in Cambridge, suggests that the de- same roses and tulips at the base; the hyacinths are omitted
sign was reproduced on several panels used to decorate an and the rosebushes are replaced with two flowering fruit-tree
unidentified building. 129 branches.
Another single tile is shaped as a small flat tombstone with The kelime-i tevhid, which declares the unity of God, is
a pointed arch at the top and a wider articulated base (207). frequently used in mausoleums and on objects made for reli-
Each side is outlined by a red band and contains a central gious monuments, including mosque lamps (see 195). It also
lobed oval flanked by two different floral arrangements that appears on carved tombstones. This tile could not have been
grow symmetrically from leaves and pods placed at the bot- intended as a tombstone since the name of the deceased is
tom. The narrow edges are painted green. The blue oval, not given in the inscription. Yet its shape, which re-creates
framed in green and supplied with a pair of axial trefoils, is the mihrab niche, and its wording indicate a religious con-
inscribed in four lines of white sülüs. The text begins with the text. The tile may have been made as a commemorative
kelime-i tevhid and concludes with a prayer for the soul of plaque for a mausoleum and placed on a wall to represent
the deceased: "la ilahe illallah Muhammed rasulullah rahme- the mihrab.
tullah aliye" (there is no god but God, Muhammed is his Naturalistic flora also decorate a series of tiles shaped as
Prophet, may God show mercy to him). The shape of the spandrels, which were used in pairs over doorways, win-

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