Ottoman Arts - Miniatures (Oriental style painting)

Bab-ı Hümayun Topkapı Palace Libarary 16Th Century Prince Cem Reception of ambassadors by Sultan SelimII From Şehname-i Selim Khan Topkapı Palace Libarary 16Th Century

Oriental rulers never paid much attentian ta the pra hi-bition on figurative art. The Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs had the walls of their palaces decorated with murals featuring human and animal figures. The magnificent architecture of the Seljuks was adorned with sculpture, and above all in the great palaces of Eastern rulers miniature painting developed. The roots of this type of painting can be traced back to the pre-Islamic period. Miniature painting passed by turn from the Timurid and Türkmen states, to the Safovids of Iran, the Seljuks and the Ottomans.

Sultan Mehmed II was the first Ottoman sultan to display an interest in the art of figurative painting, hiring famous nakkaş and musavvir to execute paintings on some of the palace walls. He was the first to have his portrait painted by a Western artist (Bellini), and started the collection of works by Eastern and Western artists which was later to become known as the Fatih Album.

But Mehmed II’s successors did not take the same interest in figurative painting, and Ottoman miniature painting survived only as the art of book

THE MINIATURE PAINTER

Ottoman miniature paintings are less ornate, have a more straight forward narrative style, and are remarkably realistic in comparison to those of other Eastern countries. As a general rule they depict specific historic events, wars, victories and public festivities in meticulous detail.

The miniaturist - musavvir - ohs cried his subject carefully, closely studying its morphological and spatial characteristics, and graphic structure. Rut he was obliged to represent these an paper using the traditional narrative stereotypes passed down over the centuries. Within this traditional framework the Ottoman miniature painter exercised an unexpected degree of freedom, and in his constant search to portray reality, achieved a highly sophisticated narrative medium.

Marginalised by religious disapproval of human representation, miniaturists suffered from a sense of guilt. They worked only at the palace workshops on orders for the sultan, illustrating his major achievements, campaigns, biographical accounts of the sub tans known as şehname, and public festivities.

Although the emphasis is on historical documentation, the world which the artist observes so closely isa lively and vigorous one which stretches his imagination. In addition to visual documentation of the events of his age -like the press photographers or documentary film producers of our own- the Ottoman miniaturist is also an undiluted artist; even if fate confined his art to the palace and to the book.

GREAT MASTERS OF SMALL PICTURES

Night Attack From Hubanname-Zenname Topkapı Palace Libarary Aslanhane 16th Century Topkapı Palace Libarary

The first major miniature pointer known to us by name is Sinan Bey, author of the celebrated portrait of Mehmed II (1451-1481). It is thought that this artist may hove been influenced by Western art through acquaintance with the art of Bellini. Famous book illustrations of the same century, are those for Badi-el -Tebrizi’s Dilsizname (Edirne 1455-56), Kulliyat-ı Kátibi and by an anonymous artist for the poet Ahmedi’ s Iskendernâme. It was during these years that an original style of historical depiction emerged.

In the 16th century a very distinctive master painter came to the fore with his famous illustrations far Beyan-i Mendazil-i Sefer-i lrakeyn, describing the places the army passed through during Ottoman campaigns to Iraq. Matrakçı Nasuh el-Silahi was not only historian, writer, calligrapher, and mathematician, but skilled in the martial arts, particularly the sport known as matrak involving the tossing of clubs, and above all an outstanding painter. His paintings ore reminscent of today’s paintings, but have no counterparts eithar in Eastern miniature or the contemporary art of the West.

The reign of Sflleyman the Magnificent was when the şehname as a literary work came into its own, and the Ottoman art of miniature rose to its zenith. Of the five-volume şehname written by the poet Arifi and illustrated by various painters, three volumes stand out as being of particular importance: the Enbiyaname, Osmannâme and Süleymannâme.

The most outstanding years of Ottoman miniature coincide with the reigns of Selim II and Murad II in the second half of the 16th century. The succession of books written by Şehname writer Seyyit Lokman were illustrated by the great miniaturist Nakkaş Osman and other miniature painters working under his direction.

The Zafernâme, Şehnâme-i Selim Han, Sehinşehnâme, Hünernâme and Zübdetü’t-Tevarih are the products of this brilliant epoch. We find the most interesting miniatures of the period in the Surname illustrating the festivities held to celebrate the circumcision of the sons of Murad IlI

Other celebrated illustrated manuscripts of the period are the Siyer-i Nebi on the life of the Prophet Muhammed, and the Eğri Fetihnamesi illustrated by Hasan, famous miniaturist of the reign of Mehmed III.

A later miniature painter of exceptional renown is tevni cognomen for Abdülcelil celebt whose celebrated Surname-i Vehbt and his sensitive portraits and unusual depiction of human figures mark the final peak of this art in the early isth century.

Ottoman Arts - Divan Literature

When the New Literature (Edebiyat-ı Cedide) arrived in the midigth century it became known as the Old Literature (Edebiyat-ı Kadime). Then such terms as Palace Literature, "Enderun" Literature, Medrese Literature, and "Ommet" Literature were tried, and finally Ottoman Literature, Classical Literature, and Classical Turkish Literature. The term we use taday, Divan Literature, was cained at the beginning af the 20th century by diner Seyfettin and Ali Canip. Divan literature is one facet of the story of Turkish, which has been widely used as a literary language since the 11th century. Theoretically and aesthetically divan literature draws on the Islamic world view, and was shaped under the influence af Persian literature, emerging in the late 13th century and surviving until the second half of the 19th century. In essence and linguistic structure it is Turkish, but makes extensive use of Arabic and Persian words, which like Latin and Greek in Europe were the languages of theology and scholarship respectively.
Throughout the Ottoman period diverse types of literature existed side by side, such as folk literature, which made the most skilful use of Turkish and in its purest farm, tekke literature of the mystic orders, and the literatures of the minority communities in languages including Arabic, Armenian, Syriac and Aramaic. Divan literature was the most "Ottoman" of these, and foremost among the cultural elements which typified the Ottoman identity. Divan literature is the literary equivalent of architecture in the Ottoman world of forms of its domes, arches and colonnades and of the music, miniatures, calligraphy, and decorative arts produced and appreciated in these buildings. In a sense divan literature is the written key to the world of Ottoman forms.	Necati, Picture of album "Divan" by Necati, Suleymaniye Library Collection
"Divan" by Ahmet Pacha, Suleymaniye Library Collection "Divan" by Fuzuli, Suleymaniye Library Collection	THE DIVAN POET In the eastern countries emotions and thoughts are expressed most often in poetry. joy, love, grief, melancholy, and all kinds of experiences of life are poured into lines and couplets. It is as if poetry is the most natural form of speech in these lands, where everyone has something of the poet in them. The divan poet was someone raised in Ottoman traditions, literate, and acquainted with the art of poetry. They could be any government official, craftsman, cleric, judge, clerk, soldier, slave or sultan (most of the Ottoman sultans were accomplished poets). They were heirs to a poetry tradition going back centuries, and continued to use its forms, to think according to its rules, and for a lifetime to seek the miracle and alchemy of the word within its framework. Theft poems were first read at gatherings called divan, attended by eminent people, sometimes including the sultan. Subsequently poems by one poet would be compiled into anthologies known as divan after these gatherings. For their subject matter the poems drew on the extensive eastern and Islamic mythology, on religious or secular stories, and on legends. Their narrative was based on a very diverse series of conventional metaphors and puns. Poets never wrote under theft real names, but always used pennames (mahlas), and this anonymity extended to their anthologies, too, which were generally entitled after the poet’s penname, for example the Bakt Divani or the Muhibbi Divani. Nor did the poems themselves have names.
Despite the strict traditional conventions of divan poetry, Ottoman poets often managed to take this form to outstanding heights of literary excellence. In one of his poems, the great sixteenth century poet Raki boasted, In this epoch my words were possessed of sovereignty / The ’kaside’ lode] was presented to me, and the ’gazel’ [lyric poem]. According to an Ottoman Turkish saying, ’The poet is one fourth prophet.

Women Costumes in Ottoman

During Ottoman times, a great distinction was made between the garments that women wore indoors and outdoors. Around the beginning of the 16th century, women's outdoor clothing consisted of ferace (overmantle), yaşmak (light-colored veil), and peçe (black veil). Winter overmantles were made of wool while those worn in summer were of silk. They had full sleeves and wrapped the body very loosely. Opening in the front, their lengths reached the ground. During the 18th century, trimmed collars were added to the overmantle. Over the years, the lengths of the "collars" varied, sometimes reaching as far as the lower hem as during the reign of Mahmud 11. During the second half of the 19th century skirt fronts were cut round and were fastened with a single button. Edges were embellished with pleating. Overmantle colors played an important role during Ottoman times: Muslim women wore red, blue, or green feraces while those worn by non-Muslim women were of paler shades.
Yaşmaks were made from a fine, soft, white fabric and consisted of two parts: one that was wrapped about the head covering it to the eyebrows and another that covered the lower part of the face to just the bridge of the nose.

The çarşaf, a baggy outer garment, is a fairly late addition to the Ottoman woman's wardrobe, having been introduced from Syria after 1872. Made from two long pieces of cloth joined together and fastened in pleats at the waist with a drawstring, it was worn together with a transparent veil over the face. This innovation did not always meet with approval; Sultan Abdiilhamid 11 for example expressly forbade the women of his palace to wear it. The baggy Çarşaf was in some cases replaced by a two-piece affair consisting of a skirt and cape.

Within the home, Ottoman women of the 16th and 17th centuries dressed in ankle-length trousers called şalvar, long-sleeved shifts of a seersucker gauze that reached down to the heels, long-sleeved cardigans, and robes known as kaftan. Open in the front and lacking any trimming, the fullness of the skirts of these robes was increased by the addition of narrow godets from the waist down. This style is common in skirts until the 19th century.

The dresses called üçetek (having a three-panelled skirt) and dörtetek (having a four-panelled skirt) make their appearance in the early 19th century. Another costume consisting of baggy shalwars, a short, tight~fitting jacket embroidered with silver thread, and a sash with embroidered ends bound at the waist was as elegant as it was comfortable to wear. Blouses were made of seersucker or silk and had cuffs and collars trimmed with lace. A type of dress called bindalli made from velvet or satin and heavily embroidered with elaborate patterns in silver and gold braid were indispensable attire for special occasions such as bridal henna-parties.

One result of steadily increasing European influence on the Ottoman Empire was the occasional use of imported European fabrics in the making of traditional woman's garments beginning in the 18th century. During the 19th century, such traditional garments as the üçetek and shalwar are cast aside in favor of costumes influenced by Parisian fashions. Traditional dresses are replaced by close-fitting corseted garments, blouses with long, full sleeves, and long, flounced skirts. Such attire was naturally accompanied by accessories such as silk stockings, fans, gloves, and parasols. The most important garment in any woman's life is her wedding-dress. During every period, wedding-dresses have been made using the most expensive fabrics available according to the prevailing fashion and style. Until fairly late in the 19th century, Ottoman brides dressed in lively colors (red was a particular favorite) at their weddings. The bridal veil was also made of red gauze well into the 19th century and was embroidered with silver and gold braid. European fashions however begin to weigh heavily in the design of Ottoman bridal costumes from about the 1870's onward. While the fabrics are silk, the colors tend to be pastel pinks, blues, and creams. The gowns are made in two parts and have a train while the traditional silver and gold braid embellishments are augmented with lace, pearls, and sequins. During this period, bridal gowns were sometimes worn beneath a matching fur-lined kaftan.In 1898, Princess Naime, daughter of Abdülhamid II, wore a pure-white bridal gown at her wedding. The fashion of the bride's wearing white thus introduced by the court was to influence the rest of Turkish society in the following century.

Ottoman Arts - Nakış (Art of decoration)

Book gilding with Chinese clouds motifs.

Nakkaþ Hasan Pacha 16th Century Shield

The discouragement of representative art by Islam led on the one hand to the development of calligraphy, and on the other to graphic forms of expression derived from ancient roots applied to all areas of creative expression.

Decoration of all kinds was known as nakýþ, and applied to every area from architecture to the minor arts, from books to tiles, and fabrics to weapons.

Stylistically, nakýþ cannot be described as originating entirely in the decorative tradition of the Selçuk or Beylik periods, although their influence is visible. Similarly it is not heavily influenced by Persian or Byzantine arts. Instead its main sources of inspiration include the Mon gol Timarids, the Far East and the Turkmen states. Ottoman artists combined these sources of inspiration with their own traditions in a constant process of synthesis, recreating them in original forms

THE NAKKAŞ

The Ottoman visual world took shape in the hands of designer-craftsmen of numerous types referred to as a whole as nakkaþ.

The focal point of this art, from which new ideas stemmed and where the finest artists were trained, was the Palace Nakka5hane or design shop. Here the styles, forms and tastes which were disseminated to the outer most frontiers of the empire were shaped, developed and taught In a sense the Nakkaþhane was the creator of the Ottoman visual identity

Ottoman decorators were involved in the design and application of decorative work in a wide range of fields, and had various names according to their field of specialisotion;

Musavvir nakkaþ executed miniature paintings, and other types of genre and portrait pointing.

Tarrah were responsible for designing the layout of book pages, and also executed pktures of gardens.

Müzehhip executed illumination for books, calligraphic panels and diverse objects.

Cetvelkeş executed the ruled borders of manu-scripts and repaired damaged popes.

Ressam executed ink and brush drawings.

Ottoman nakkaþ learnt the secrets of their art from their masters, just as they had learnt from mas-ters before them, practising what they learnt by means of me5k exercises until their art was an inherent part-their being.

They worked for years in an almost mystic adherence to their art.

Despite this traditional structure which might be assumed to have encouraged inertia, decorators were always receptive to new influences and new materials. Because while being attached to accepted forms and traditions an the one hand, on the other the winds of creative freedom exerted an astonishing effect on this art form.

Architecture Outside of Turkiye

Ottoman Period in Jerusalem

Hasan Bey Mosquefrom Jaffa

When the Ottoman Turks defected the Mameluke forces in 1517, Palestine came under the rule of a new empire that was to dominate the entire Near East for the next 400 years. At the outset, particularly during the reign of Sultan Suleiman, known in Arabic as "the Law maker," but better known as Suleiman the Magnificent, Jerusalem flourished. Walls and gates, which had lain in ruins since the Ayyubid period, were rebuilt. The ancient aqueduct was reactivated and public drinking fountains were installed. After Suleiman's death, however, cultural and economic stagnation set in, Jerusalem again became a small, unimportant town. For the next 300 years its population barely increased, while trade and commerce were frozen; Jerusalem became a backwater.

Although the renewal of Jerusalem's Jewish community is attributed to the activity of Nahmanides, who arrived in the city in 1267, the community's true consolidation occured in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the influx of Jews who had been expelled from Spain.

The 19th century witnessed far-reaching changes, along with the gradual weakening of the Ottoman Empire. Political change in Jerusalem and indeed throughout the country was accelerated as part of a policy of Europeanization. European institutions in Jerusalem, particularly those of a religious character, enjoyed growing influence. Foreign consulates, merchants and settlers, grew in numbers and in power

These foreigners brought in their wake many innovations: modern postal systems run by the various consulates; the use of the wheel for modes of transportation; stagecoach and carriage, the wheelbarrow and the cart; and the oil-lantern. These were among the first signs of modernization in the city. By mid-century the first paved road ran from Jaffa to Jerusalem; by 1892 the railroad had reached the city.

The Wall and the Damascus Gate

The Wall and the Damascus

The wall that encloses the present-day Old City of Jerusalem was built in the sixteenth century by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. Originally it had seven gates; an eighth, aptly named New Gate, was added in the late nineteenth century in the wall's northwest sector.

The largest and most splendid of the portals is Damascus Gate. Located on the wall's northern side, it is adjacent to ruins attesting that this has been the site of the city's main entrance since ancient times. The gate's defenses include slits for firing at attackers, thick doors, and an opening from which boiling oil could be spilled on assailants below.

Albania

A Mosque in the Dunavat District

The relationship between the Ottoman State and , Albania began after 1325. Albania became an Ottoman territory during the reign of Murad 11 (1421-1451). The country was divided into "timars" in accordance with the Ottoman economic system. The first known and published Ottoman document is a sanjak-i defter dated 835/1431 (H.Ynalcik, Survey of suret-i defter-i sanjak-i Arnavid, Ankara, 1954). Albania, occupying a much larger region then today, became an independent State in 1912.

Halwati Tekke 1782

The number of buildings dating from Ottoman times and preserved until today are: Fortresses (6), Mosques (IS), Public Baths (4), Bridges (5), Tekke (1), Shops and Trade Centers (4), Aqueducts (1) Clock Towers (1) and Houses. According to the scrutinised wakf documents, the original number of these buildings were as follows. Fortresses (9), Mosques (482), Madrasas (28), Public Schools (1 I 1), Tekke and Zawiyas (144), Public Kitchens (9), Khans (123), Public Baths (18), Shrines (38), Bridges (18) and Fountains (13) (Ayverdi). Most of these buildings were constructed in towns which were at some time or other administrative centers of the sanjak: Kruje, V,lore Berat, Gjirokaster, Elbasan, Korçe, Shkoder, Tepelene and Tirane.

Algeria

BeylerBeyi Palace from Algeria

Algeria occupies almost the same territories today as it. did during the Ottoman period. The renowned Barbarossa Brothers, Arudj and Khayr al-din; volunteered in 922/1516for Ottoman sovereignty in order to protect Algeria from the Spanish attacks in the Mediterranean Sea. After Khayr al-din became the Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet, Algeria was governed first by beylerbeys then by pashas sent from the Capital until the l6th century. A sort of regency was then established first by aghas of military origin by the dominance of beys who ruled with the help of beys autonomously until the French conquest of Algeria in 1837.Examples of Ottoman architectural works can still be found in Algiers, Constantine, Tlemçen and Ouhran. including mainly mosques, mausoleums, palaces, fortresses, barracks, bridges, fountains and aqueducts.This architecture is characterised by clean white exterior walls and block-like volumes common to North Africa. However, the centralised plan of the mosques reflects the innovations of the Capital. Furthermore, certain arche forms, bricks covering roofs, compositions in plasterwork made of flowers stemming from vases and the use of tiles to decorate palaces indicate to what extent the modes and styles of Istanbul penetrated into the regional architecture of Algeria.

Ottoman Works of Calligraphy (MORE)

Ottoman Works of Calligraphy