Page 90 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

an unsuccessful insurrection against the Safavid ruler. Arifi The master of the Süleymanname devised the compositions
was appointed §ahnamcci by Suleyman, who asked him to for accession ceremonies, sieges of fortresses, and receptions
write a history of the Ottoman dynasty. The poet conceived in pavilions and tents that became the prototypes for later
the §ahname-i Al-i Osman as a five-volume set, beginning paintings. He was the first to apply Nasuh's topographic
with the creation of man and ending with the biography of genre to the representation of the Topkapi Palace and other
the sultan. The first and last volumes in the series, the Anbi- architectural structures, placing his protagonists within realis-
yaname (Book of Prophets) and the Süleymanname, were both tic settings. He was also the first to portray identifiable per-
transcribed in 1558; volumes two and three are missing; and sonages, who are attired in their characteristic garments and
only the first half of volume four, which is devoted to the rise placed in the scenes according to court protocol.
of the Ottomans and the early sultans, remains. One of his double-folio paintings represents the siege of
A document listing the expenses of an "imperial cahname," Belgrade (4la), Süleyman's first campaign undertaken in
drawn between 1552/1553 and 1555/1556, itemizes the costs 1521. On the left half is the Ottoman camp with the sultan
of paper, ink, gold leaf, pigments, and other materials ordered seated in his tent, accompanied by his vezirs, commanders,
for the work, lists the salaries of the scribes and painters, and and Has Oda officials, watching with great apprehension the
concludes with the amount paid to the carpenters, who con- assault on the Hungarian capital. Opposite is the city of Bel-
structed partitions for the scribes in the derhane (residence or grade, crowded with pitched roofs, belfries, and domes, with
studio) of Fethullah Çelebi, the cahnameci. This document its flags flying valiantly from the towers. A group of residents,
must be related to Arifi's §ahname-i Al-i Osman, possibly to soldiers, and monks have gathered in the church, praying for
the lost sections, since it mentions as the chief calligrapher deliverance from the Ottomans while fire consumes the outer
Mustafa, whose name does not appear in the colophons of tower, throwing its defenders into panic. The scene not only
the remaining volumes. 78 documents the event, but also portrays the emotional re-
The Süleymanname is the most spectacular work in the se- sponses of the participants. The majestic stillness and self-
ries, its binding, illuminations, and illustrations produced by assurance that prevails in the Ottoman camp is contrasted by
the best talents in the court. The binding, stamped and heav- the commotion and desperation of the Hungarians.
ily gilded, is attributed to Mehmed b. Ahmed, the head of the Another double folio executed by the same painter depicts
bookbinders; the illuminations, revealing the same naturalis- the Battle of Mohács (41b), which took place in 1526 and
tic themes observed in the 1546/1547 Koran of Karahisari resulted in the annexation of Hungary to the Ottoman Em-
and the 1566 Divan-i Muhibbi, must have been executed by pire. The artist re-created the fervor and excitement of this
Kara Memi, the head of the nakka^hane. The same care is great Ottoman victory while at the same time identifying the
observed in the selection of the painters employed to illus- protagonists, describing the terrain, and documenting the bat-
trate its sixty-five scenes (four spread onto double folios). The tle tactics. Suleyman, mounted on a horse, appears in the
scenes show the hands of two major and three minor artists, center of the right half, surrounded by his personal guards.
each selected for his expertise and background. The janissaries, who are neatly lined up in front of him, fire
The master of the Süleymanname, who executed the major- their cannons and rifles at the enemy, encouraged by the mu-
ity of the illustrations, was a most innovative artist. This sic of the imperial military band, which stands at his back.
painter worked primarily with Arifi and also illustrated the The left half is full of action and shows several fighting
Anbiyaname; the 1557/1558 Futuhat-i Cemile (Admirable con- warriors. Enemy forces retreating and regrouping in a disor-
quests), an account of the 1551-1552 campaigns in Hungary ganized fashion contrast with the regimentation and disci-
and Transylvania undertaken by vezirs Ahmed and Mehmed pline of the sultan's army depicted on the opposite folio. The
Pa§as; 79 and the historian's only literary work, the Ravzat el- two halves of the scene are united by the field and the rivers
U§ak (see 34). that flow across the plain and the pool in the foreground. The
The second major painter of the Süleymanname was the banks are lined with bodies of dead horses and soldiers. In
doyen of the studio. His decorative style, first seen in 1515 in the foreground are many Hungarians who were drowned in
Mantik et-Tayr, dominated the illustrated literary manuscripts the swamps while trying to escape, trapped by their heavy
through the 1550s, as observed in the collected poems of Se- armor.
lim I, Nevai, and Arifi discussed above. The same painter One of the paintings in the Süleymanname depicts the sul-
worked on the second volume in the series, which, together tan conversing with Barbaros Hayreddin Pa§a under the ar-
with the Süleymanname, was his last contribution. Two of the cades of a pavilion overlooking a lovely garden in the third
minor artists, one specializing in the representation of the Sa- courtyard of the Topkapi Palace (41c). Suleyman, who in-
favids and the other that of the Europeans, worked with the vited the formidable seaman to Istanbul to discuss the refor-
master of the Süleymanname. The fifth artist produced only mation of the Ottoman naval forces, has allowed his guest to
two scenes, which were extremely formulaic in style and sub- be seated in his presence, ordinarily a privilege granted only
ject matter. to members of the royal family. A sense of intimacy and pri-

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