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Ottoman illumination
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Turkish or Ottoman illumination refers to non-figurative painted or drawn decorative art found in manuscripts or on sheets in muraqqa.[1] In Turkish it is called “tezhip”,[2] meaning “ornamenting with gold”. The Classical Islamic style of manuscript illumination combines techniques from Turkish, Persian, and Arabic traditions. Illumination was central to the traditional arts of the Ottoman Turks, who developed a style of illumination distinct from earlier traditions.[3]
Manuscript illustration, such as the painting of the Ottoman miniature (taswir),[4] was a distinct process from manuscript illumination, and each process was thus carried out by an artist specially trained in that particular craft.[5]
Illumination design varies depending on the associated text. Poetic texts often featured decoration along the margins of the text block or interrupting columns of text.[5] Copies of the Qur'an from the Ottoman period in the 14th and 16th centuries feature fully decorated opening pages (levha or plate illumination), with subsequent pages only featuring illumination on the edges of the text block (koltuk illumination).[6]
Illumination techniques were used to decorate manuscripts of the Qur'an as well as other mediums such as decorative papers, book covers, textiles, ceramics, glass and wood panels, metal works, and architectural surfaces.[7] Manuscripts of the Qur'an and literary or historical works were illuminated in palace workshops or in private artists' workshops. Illuminated manuscripts were generally accessible to sultans because of their high production cost.[8] The production of illuminated works of art under royal or elite patronage contributed to the unity of style frequently observed in Turkish decorative arts.[6]
- ^ Tanindi, Zeren (2002). "Manuscript Illumination". Ottoman Civilization. 2: 864-.
- ^ From Persian: تذهیب tazhīb, from Arabic: تذهيب tadhhīb
- ^ Onat, Sema (2015). Islamic Art of Illumination: Classical Tazhib From Ottoman to Contemporary Times. Clifton, NJ: Blue Dome Press. ISBN 978-1-935295-82-2.
- ^ From Persian: تصویر taswīr
- ^ a b Sims, Eleanor (2001). "The Art of Illumination in Islamic Manuscripts in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon". HALI, The International Journal of Oriental Carpets and Textiles (114): 96–99.
- ^ a b Tanindi, Zeren (2000). "The Art of Illumination in the Ottomans". The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation. 4: 669–674.
- ^ Onat, Sema (2015). Islamic Art of Illumination: Classical Tazhib From Ottoman to Contemporary Times. Clifton, NJ: Blue Dome Press. ISBN 978-1-935295-82-2.
- ^ Grabar, Oleg (2009). Masterpieces of Islamic Art: The Decorated Page From the 8th to the 17th Century. Munich: Prestel. ISBN 9783791343792.
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