Page 72 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

rants, and small roundels accenting the frame. The field, as worked on the 1515 Mantik et-Tayr. Both works show the
well as the frame, is decorated with gold hatayi scrolls and strong impact of Herat with their limited repertoire of subject
cloud bands placed on the black ground. The central medal- matter—courtly entertainments and hunts—and highly deco-
lion and quadrants have gold saz designs stamped onto the rative approach to illustration. Although stylistically the
gold background; the same technique is used in the roundels paintings are closely related to the school of Herat, certain
of the frame, which contain gold cloud bands. The combina- features are purely Ottoman. These include vessels with tu-
tion of gold and black and the use of two tones of gold create lips, roses, and other blossoms decorating the niches of the
a sumptuous effect. The gold-ground areas are rendered in sultan's chamber; the çintemani-patterned robe on one of the
slight relief and decorated with large motifs, which produce a riders accompanying the sultan; and figures with large volu-
contrast with the recessed black-ground areas and their min- minous turbans, delicately painted features, and long droop-
ute scrolls. ing black mustaches.
The interior, covered with reddish-brown leather, has a This decorative style, which made its appearance immedi-
gold frame bearing a black hatayi scroll. The central medal- ately after the conquest of Tabriz, dominated the literary
lion and corner quadrants have filigree rumi and hatayi manuscripts of the court until the 1550s. It is last seen in the
scrolls lined with blue paper. The contrast of the boldness of 1558 Süleymanname, which contains the anonymous artist's
the exterior with the delicacy of the interior is a characteristic only historical paintings. He was truly a nakka§, a decorator
of the imperial bookbindings produced for the sultan. The in the broadest sense, who also worked on the pairs of small
poems of Süleyman, transcribed and illuminated by the mas- panels inserted into the text (28b). These represent facing,
ters of the court, must also have been bound by the chief conversing angels, and in rare cases floral motifs or animals.
bookbinder, Mehmed b. Ahmed, who was the head of the The Divan-i Selimi was transcribed by a calligraphier named
society at that time. §ahsuvar, who has appended the word "Selimi" to his name,
Although the Divan-i Muhibbi was reproduced a number of presumably in honor of his patron. This artist, who must
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times during Süleyman's reign, there is only a single version have come to the court during the reign of Selim I, has not
of the Divan-i Selimi, the collected poems of his father, Selim. left other signed works. He not only copied the poems of his
The manuscript, datable to the 1520s, was illustrated by two patron in the text blocks, but also placed select verses in the
double-folio paintings. margins, writing them diagonally between the beautifully
The first pair (28a), conceived as two separate scenes, is rendered gold drawings. The margins are thus an equally im-
united by a frame composed of overlapping motifs recalling portant part of the manuscript, combining text and
fat rumis or cloud bands overlaid with floral scrolls. The left decoration.
half represents Selim I, distinguished by his long mustache, The hand of the same painter is found in the illustrations
seated in a pavilion and accompanied by two youths, one of of a similarly ornate copy of the collected poems of Ali §ir
whom holds a book. The chamber, its walls covered with Nevai, the famous statesman and poet of Herat, who wrote in
hexagonal tiles, has three windows that open into a garden. Çagatay, the native tongue of the Timurids. Datable to the
Above the side windows are compartmented niches with 1530s, the manuscript contains an exceptional binding exe-
bowls, jugs, and tankards bearing flowers; between the cuted by another master. Its stamped and gilded central me-
niches is a geometric panel that might represent a stained- dallion and spandrels are decorated with saz scrolls, while the
glass window. To the right is either the entrance facade of the lacquered field shows a symmetrical group of flying angels
chamber or that of an adjacent structure with an attendant bearing bowls of fruits and long-necked wine bottles. These
guarding it. The right half of the double folio represents Selim fantastic creatures with large swooping wings, headdresses
I riding in a landscape, with an attendant walking in front of made of leaves, and long fluttering ribbons tied to their torsos
his horse. Four additional riders appear behind the hills in resemble the examples found in drawings attributed to §ah-
the background. kulu and his followers. The saz style, applied both to the flora
The other pair of folios shows a hunting scene spread and to the creatures inhabiting an enchanted forest, is explic-
across both halves, once again united by a frame composed itly represented on this bookbinding.
of cartouches bearing floral scrolls and rumis. The pages are The illustrations in the Divan-i Nevai represent such courtly
almost mirror images of one another, with a rider in the fore- themes as hunts and princely entertainments, and are en-
ground, a second in the center, and a pair of figures flanking closed by gold marginal drawings. The scenes are highly dec-
the hills in the background. The figures use swords and bows orative with a few participants placed against intricately
and arrows to hunt such game as lions, leopards, mountain painted settings. One of them (29) shows a pair of polo play-
goats, gazelles, and hares. ers galloping toward the ball in the center of the folio while
The composition of both the interior and exterior scenes, figures, silhouetted against the gold sky, observe. The scene is
the postures of the figures, and the decorative elements indi- divided into three horizontal planes by gently rolling hills
cate that these paintings were made by the same artist who that define the foreground, the middle ground, and the back-

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