Page 45 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

Religious Manuscripts invited his teacher to Istanbul and assigned him a studio in
the palace. According to tradition, Bayezid so greatly admired
Similar to other Islamic societies, the Ottomans regarded cal- the calligraphier that he used to sit long hours holding his ink-
ligraphy as the noblest of all the arts. To copy the Koran was well and watching him work. During the course of one such
considered an act of piety and devotion, and the persons who session the sultan asked him whether Yakut's six styles could
performed this task with the highest degree of perfection be- be improved. Hamdullah disappeared for forty days and
came the most celebrated artists, respected and honored by when he returned to the palace he had totally revolutionized
sultans. Throughout Islamic history the veneration of the holy Yakut's scripts, establishing his own school of writing.
book led to the development of both calligraphy and illumi- A legend in his own lifetime, Hamdullah is thought to have
nation, which also benefited the production of secular manu- written close to fifty Korans and hundreds of volumes con-
scripts, setting high standards for the aesthetics and connois- taining collections of prayers, selections from the Koran, and
seurship of the art of the book. calligraphic verses and exercises. In addition, he composed
In the Ottoman world the development of calligraphy was the inscriptions on the entrance portal and the mihrab of the
particularly energetic, each new generation of artists master- Mosque of Sultan Bayezid II, those over the entrance in the
ing and perfecting the older traditions and periodically revi- mosques of Davut Pa§a and Firuz Aga, and that on the Edir-
talizing and revolutionizing the established styles. Calligra- nekapi, one of the main gates of the capital. He was also a
phers continued to surpass their predecessors and reach new great swimmer, archer, and hunter: he swam across the
heights until well into the nineteenth century. treacherous Bosporus from Saray Burnu to Üsküdar; he was
The men who practiced calligraphy belonged to several dif- made the leader of the archers at Ok Meydam, which earned
ferent groups. First there were the salaried copyists, the kati- him the title §eyh; and he was an expert in hawking. A man
ban, who were either a part of the Ehl-i Hiref and worked in of many talents, Hamdullah was also a tailor and is said to
the capital or provincial courts or belonged to the staff of ad- have made a kaftan for Bayezid II.
ministrators. These men were prolific, turning out one manu- When Bayezid II was overthrown by his son Selim in
script after another, copying them alone or with their associ- 1512, Hamdullah was extremely disillusioned and retired to
ates. The majority of the manuscripts, particularly the his estate at Alemdag in Üsküdar. After Süleyman ascended
illustrated ones, were the products of these copyists, most of the throne he invited Hamdullah back to the palace and
whom were not named in them or in the biographical dic- asked him to write a Koran. Hamdullah declined, saying he
tionaries of the artists. was too old, and suggested that one of his students undertake
The second group of calligraphers practiced this form of art the task. The calligrapher, who was more than ninety years
for personal pleasure and included sultans, §ehzades, grand old at the time, died two months later. He trained many stu-
vezirs, §eyhulislams, and other officials. Some of them ex- dents and inspired followers who immortalized his style for
celled in their hobbies and became highly respected calligra- centuries to come. Hamdullah's family produced a dozen cal-
phers, including Bayezid II and his son Korkud, both of ligraphers, each carrying the tradition of the great master.
whom were trained by §eyh Hamdullah. Hamdullah's mature style is observed in a Koran trans-
The third group constituted the great masters, men who cribed in Istanbul in 1495/1496. Although it bears no dedica-
taught and practiced calligraphy as an act of devotion. These tion, the manuscript, which is of exceptional quality, must
men were not salaried, but generously rewarded for their ser- have been produced for Bayezid II. The volume follows a tra-
vices by the sultans and received ample stipends and bene- ditional format with an illuminated double frontispiece pre-
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fits. Two of the most renowned master calligraphers in his- ceding an illuminated double serlevha that contains the first
tory, §eyh Hamdullah and Ahmed Karahisari, worked in the verses. The illuminations are extremely refined, using three
sixteenth century, each a revolutionary artist with a markedly different tones of gold, and light and dark shades of red, blue,
different style. and green. The decorative repertoire is characteristic for the
§eyh Hamdullah, born in Amasya in 1429(7), was the son period and includes rumis, cloud bands, floral scrolls, and
of a §eyh (spiritual leader) of the Sühreverdi order of der- sprays of blossoms. The text, written in fourteen lines of ne-
vishes, Mustafa Dede, who had come from Bukhara. Ham- sih per page, is embellished with illuminated chapter head-
dullah studied calligraphy with Hayreddin Mara§i, a student ings, marginal ornaments, and verse stops (7). The chapter
of Abdullah Sayrafi, himself a student of the celebrated Yakut headings are conceived as long and narrow panels enclosing
el-Mustasimi, who had established the canonical forms for oval cartouches with the titles written in white ink. Each
the six styles of Arabic script. Similar to other Ottoman callig- heading employs a different color scheme and composition,
raphers, Hamdullah practiced all six styles, but it was for his and contrasts the design in oval cartouches with the corner
sülüs and nesih that he came to be renowned. spandrels of the panels.
He tutored Bayezid II while the latter was serving as gover- Hamdullah's nesih in this work indeed befits his reputa-
nor in Amasya. Upon ascending the throne in 1481, Bayezid tion. His calligraphy shows extreme control and exactitude as

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