Page 61 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

18b. Illuminated serlevha from a Hadis transcribed by Abdülhayf Ali c. 1540
and dedicated to §ehzade Mehmed (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayí Müzcsi, E.H.
2851, fols. lb-2a)

ing from clusters of leaves. The flowers, painted in poly- ters are cut from colored papers and pasted on folios with
chrome pigments on a gold ground, include tulips, carna- contrasting hues. Ali used cream, white, and blue papers for
tions, hyacinths, violets, irises, and narcissi amid rosebushes his text, and dark beige and varying tones of pinks for the
and blossoming fruit trees. The panels are encircled by thin folios, some of which are gold-speckled and marbled. As seen
black bands and framed by red borders embellished with gold in the illuminated serlevha (18b), a line of tevkii alternates
hatayi scrolls. with four lines of talik, some of which are written diagonally,
The theme of a paradise garden filled with eternally bloom- leaving triangular units in the corners for the illuminator.
ing spring flowers, commemorating the exuberance, beauty, Kara Memi, who is thought to have painted the covers, must
and perpetuity of nature, makes its first datable appearance in also have worked on the illuminations of the text.
this work. The love of flowers and gardens and the delight in The illuminations employ hatayi scrolls, rumis, and sprays
being surrounded by representations of naturalistic flora, per- of blossoms, the most elaborate of which appear in the finials
haps the most distinct features of Ottoman culture, are ex- around the headings. Here we see Kara Memi's characteristic
pertly demonstrated on the doublures of this bookbinding. tulips, carnations, hyacinths, roses, and violets rendered in
The text, written in tevkii and talik, was executed in the red and interspersed with blue hatayis.
kaati technique by a calligraphier named Abdülhayf Ali. This A similar combination employing a different technique is
laborious technique is a type of découpage in which the let- found on the covers of an undated Koran made in the second

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