Please note: None of the material on these pages is hosted by the Turkish Radio's server. These are simply reference points for your convenience. To see the material at their original locations, right click on it and choose "Open Link in New Window".
Just in case you missed the article:
x0x Anatolia in miniatures
By Prof. Dr. METIN AND
The city miniatures produced by the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th
centuries take you on a journey through Anatolia, from Iznik and
Kutahya to Konya and Erzincan.
Cities occupy an important place in the wide range of subjects treated
in Ottoman miniature paintings. We encounter some of these city
depictions on the illustrated color maps, known as portolano, the best
examples of which were produced by Piri Reis. Besides the two world
maps drawn by Piri Reis, there is also an atlas entitled the Kitab-y
Bahriye or Book of the Sea. The first copy of this atlas, which was
produced twice in the 16th century, contains 223 color drawings of
cities, the second 215. Although Istanbul was not included in the
original copy of the atlas, of which there are more than forty copies
showing all the port cities on the Mediterranean, it was added in the
17th century. Even though the illustrations in the Kitab-y Bahriye and
similar atlases are more like simple sketches and therefore not
regarded as miniatures, the artists who drew the maps were nonetheless
called by the same name, nakkath, as the Ottoman miniature painters.
MATRAKCI ON THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN...
Matrakcy Nasuh is the undisputed master of the topographic miniature
painting. A contemporary of Suleyman the Magnificent, Matrakcy Nasuh
was a versatile Renaissance man who wrote books on history,
mathematics, sports and chivalry, as well as having a very special
place in the art of miniature painting. The 16th century cities
depicted in the topographic miniatures without human figures that he
painted in his own inimitable style are unique documents today.
Matrakcy Nasuh included city miniatures in his three books as an
adjunct to the texts. The first book describes a campaign by the
Ottoman fleet to the northern shores of the Mediterranean, during
which he made miniatures of such port cities as Genoa, Antibes,
Toulon, Nice and Marseilles. The second chapter of the same work
depicts places and incidents relating to the Ottoman campaigns against
Hungary. Matrakcys second work meanwhile relates campaigns and
incidents from the reign of Sultan Bayezid II. Here we find pictures
of the Ottoman fleet and of the cities and fortresses, such as Modon,
Kili,
Akkerman and Ynebahty, that were captured on those campaigns. Both
works are preserved today in the Topkapi Palace Library. The third
book Beyan-y Menazil-i Sefer-i Irakeyn-i Sultan Suleyman Han, known
for short as the Menzilname, is Matrakcy's most important work. This
book, the original copy of which is housed in the Istanbul University
Library, describes the First Iraq-Iran Campaign, starting and ending
in Istanbul and made in 1533-36 during the reign of Suleyman the
Magnificent. Although most of the 128 stops depicted in the miniatures
are cities both large and small, a few are unsettled rural areas.
After Istanbul, we can see the following cities of Anatolia in the
book: Izmit, Iznik, Kutahya, Konya, Ered-li, Nid-de, Kayseri, Sivas,
Erzincan and Erzurum. Following Anatolia, Matrakcy focuses on the
cities of Iraq and Iran, and on the return he depicts Bitlis,
Diyarbakir (formerly Kara Amid), Aleppo, Adana, Ered-li, Konya,
Eskithehir and Istanbul. The most important miniature in this book of
Matrakcys is the Istanbul miniature which covers two whole pages.
Depicted in this most well-known and frequently published miniature
are the entirety of Istanbul's quarters and important buildings in all
their detail. They are based on such careful observation that, when
enlarged, all the buildings and squares of the district emerge
undistorted like an independent picture. Another illustrated
manuscript almost certainly ascribable to Matrakcy is housed in the
Sachsiche Landesbibliothek in Dresden. Among the miniatures here are
depictions of Tabriz, Bayburt Fortress, Amasya, Havale Fortress, Sivas
and Kemah, all in the precise style of Matrakcy.
MANISA, CITY OF PRINCES
The miniatures of three Anatolian cities dating to the 16th century
were written up in a previous issue of this magazine. The first of
these is a miniature of Manisa, found in a work entitled THehname-i
Al-i Osman in the Topkapi Palace Library. This important city, where
Ottoman crown princes traditionally served as governors before
succeeding to the throne, was drawn on two pages of the work.
Depicted in the bottom half of the miniature, in a rectangular area
that covers almost one-third of the painting, is the palace where the
crown princes lived. Various buildings, pavilions and summer palaces
can also be seen in this space, construction of which was commissioned
by Sultan Murad II in 1445. Apart from the palaces there are also
caravanserays, public baths, mosques large and small, bridges, a
cemetery and a medrese. Meanwhile the Manisa Fortress, a relic of the
Seljuks, is also visible in the upper right corner of the miniature.
Our second miniature is of Van. A fortress on the hill, dating back to
the Urartu civilization, strikes the eye in this miniature, which is
found as Inventory no. E.9487 in the Topkapi Palace archives. This
fortress was encircled by four defense walls, the first and second of
which were built by the Akkoyunlu and the Ottomans, while the other
two are thought to date back to the Urartus. The staircase descending
from Van Fortress down to the city was built by the Seljuk ruler,
Kylyc Arslan. Inscriptions on the miniatures indicate the citys major
buildings. On the hill, at the left, are the Suleyman Han Mosque and
the Mansion of the Agha of the Janissaries;
on the right the Winter Barracks of the Janissaries and the Ammunition
Dump. Below are the Kyzyl or Red Mosque, Kaya Celebi Mosque, Husrev
Patha Mosque, the Great Mosque and the gates in the city walls.
THE FATE OF KARS
The third miniature deals with the reconstruction of Kars, which
manifests its fate as a frontier city in this painting. Captured by
the Safavids in Selim IIIs Caldyran campaign of 1514, Kars was rebuilt
by Suleyman the Magnificent only to be recaptured and again destroyed
by the Safavids. In 1578 Sultan Murad III dispatched his army to the
East under the command of one of his vezirs, Lala Mustafa Patha.
Defeating the Persians, the army captured Tiflis and Shirvan before
withdrawing to Erzurum for the winter. In 1579 Kars underwent a
complete reconstruction from top to bottom by thousands of
master builders and simple laborers. A palace, a medrese, a market, a
public bath and five mosques were built as well as two bridges over
the Kars Cay.
One of the mosques was erected in the name of Murad III, the other in
the name of his vezir, Lala Mustafa Patha. Unfortunately however the
city was again destroyed by the Persians 25 years later. This
miniature, which shows the reconstruction of 1579, is taken from a
manuscript in the British Library. When we look at these miniatures
from the Ottoman period, we can not only see the topographical
features of the cities of that time, but we can also read an entire
history of wars, repairs, architectural structures and much much
more...
---
--
Recommended
Cook Books