Page 32 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

though from the 1520s to the 1560s it appears to have relied legged mythical creatures), lions and dragons as well as
heavily on masters from Tabriz or on their trainees. These art- placid peris (angelic female spirits or fairies). Although at best
ists either emigrated to the Ottoman capital from Iran after only two drawings datable to the 1540s and 1550s (see figs.
the fall of the Akkoyunlu state in 1501 or came as a part of 8 and 9) can be properly assigned to his hand, he was the
Selim I's booty after the 1514 conquest of Tabriz. Although it indisputable master of this sophisticated style, which reveals
is thought that Selim I transported a thousand artists, crafts- mystic tendencies. The inherent symbolism of these works
men, scholars, and poets to the capital, the registers record must have been intellectually stimulating to Süleyman, since
only thirteen men who entered the painting studio during his saz drawings were incorporated into albums compiled for
reign. A related document lists sixteen painters and adds a him; they reflect his personal taste as well as his interest in
note stating that there were twenty-three others just as tal- mysticism, which is also evident in his own poetry. The floral
ented. 8 Of these sixteen names, eleven are mentioned in var- themes that evolved from drawings executed in this style be-
ious documents and payroll registers. It is possible that the came the most distinct characteristics of Ottoman decorative
others entered different societies of the Ehl-i Hiref or joined arts. Saz style drawings ceased to be produced after the end
the local guilds. of the sixteenth century although the decorative theme sur-
Artists listed as Tabrizi in the registers obviously included vived much longer, having an exuberant revival in the first
painters from Herat who had been taken to Tabriz after the half of the 1700s.
fall of the Timurid Empire. Selim I also brought with him Kara Memi, another exceptionally innovative artist, formu-
Bedi uz-Zaman, the last Timurid sultan held captive by the lated a totally different concept of decoration, the naturalistic
9
Safavids, and his retinue of court artists and scholars. It genre in which a profusion of spring flowers and trees joy-
should be noted that Selim I must have also brought Syrian fully re-create paradise gardens. The representation of such
and Egyptian artists to Istanbul after the defeat of the Mam- flowers as roses, tulips, carnations, and hyacinths (which
luks in 1517. The last Mamluk court in Cairo had just begun symbolized sacred and profane love, abundance, or perpetu-
to sponsor major illustrated manuscripts, which appear to ity) in addition to blossoming fruit trees (called bahar, which
have been produced by artists trained in the Akkoyunlu also means "spring") and cypresses (symbols of the ascension
schools of Tabriz and Shiraz. 10 Once in Istanbul they joined of the soul into heaven) reflects yet another mystical trend,
their former colleagues and their individual styles became ab- rendered in a different idiom. The elements of this genre,
sorbed by the nakka§hane. more easily comprehended than the saz themes, immediately
Although the archival documents provide information on spread to the other media and continued to be a significant
the structure of the nakka§hane and its membership, the feature in Ottoman decorative arts for centuries to come.
styles of the vast majority of the individuals and their contri- Kara Memi, whose name is mentioned in two manuscripts
bution to the development of Ottoman painting are not produced in the 1550s and the 1560s (see 14 and 26), estab-
known. Many painters cannot be identified with the existing lished this genre, which coexisted with the saz style of deco-
works since most of the manuscripts have no colophons and ration initiated by §ahkulu in the second quarter of the six-
the few that do record only the names of the calligraphers. teenth century.
Many texts were illustrated by the combined efforts of several Osman represents yet another revolutionary trend in the
artists, who either produced single paintings or collaborated nakka§hane, that of illustrated histories. He was an excep-
with colleagues; therefore their identity was lost within the tional artist who could portray the psychological interaction
overall production. Even when the hands of individuals can between the protagonists while remaining true to the docu-
be determined in a series of illustrations, they still remain mentation of the events within their proper settings. He and
anonymous. his assistants worked primarily with Lokman, the official
There are, fortunately, four exceptions: Bayram b. Dervi§, court biographer, producing hundreds of paintings that re-
§ahkulu, Kara Memi, and Osman, each of whom represents a created the lives and achievements of the sultans and re-
different tradition practiced in the court studio. Bayram, corded in detail their glorious campaigns, festive events, cere-
known as the illuminator of a Koran (see 8), reveals a con- monial activities, and private lives (see 42 and 43). Osman,
servative and traditional mode. He was a highly competent who flourished between the 1560s and the 1590s, is not only
artist with great technical facility and probably was the best mentioned in the manuscripts of the period, but also por-
in his league. trayed in two of them. His style, which dominated the nakka§-
§ahkulu, on the other hand, was a revolutionary painter hane until the second quarter of the seventeenth century,
and the creator of the saz style, which came to be identified owed much to the anonymous master of the Süleymanname,
with the high court art of the age. He was a virtuoso of saz written by the court biographer Arifi (see 41), the first illus-
drawings that represented a fantastic world filled with hatayis trated history in the Ottoman court that realistically docu-
and twisting leaves, frequently inhabited by ferocious sen- mented the events, personages, and settings of the age. 11
murvs (fantastic birds resembling phoenixes), chilins (four- The term nakka§hane appears to denote the society of

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