Islamic tradition, especially the Sunni sect of Islam has forbidden the depiction of god and anything related to god’s creation. This is so unlike Christianity which has always been keen on depicting Jesus, his life story and his miracles. Especially the Greek Orthodox Christian tradition we see in İstanbul has an incredibly rich culture of visual arts which you can see across the Greek Orthodox Churches in istanbul full of scenes from Christ’s life and Saints. Istanbul all throughout the Christian history was very famous with its icons and icon making tradition.
See the rich icons wall in Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
One wonders what our ancestors have left to us visually and the answer is miniatures. Miniatures are small scale paintings with a completely different tradition compared to western painting tradition. Miniatures have no perspective. All elements in it have the same ‘weight’ meaning that all elements have the same size. and most elements are symbolic rather than reflecting real life and real people. Some art historians claim that miniatures reflect the world from the vision of God. A Westerner or a modern spectator can be puzzled by the child like depiction of scenes with no perspective, no emphasis on foreground or background, inside or outside, past or present. But they are a delight to watch.
Matrakçı Nasuh is one of the miniature artists we know by name as most artists were anonymous as artists of that time believed they should be so. He has a rich collection of life in Istanbul and in the Ottoman court. He was born in 1480 and had a long life by the standards of his day and passed away in 1564. He was not only a miniature artist but a mathematician and a historian of his times.
We know of 15th and 16th century İstanbul partially due to his miniatures.
Let’s have a look at the rich world of Matrakçı Nasuh and allow him to take us to a world before us!
Scenes of ‘entertainment’ in Sultanahmet square during Kanuni’s son’s circumcision ceremony
İstanbul map. I am sure you can notice Galata Tower on this miniature.
Sultan Süleyman welcoming the Iranian Ambassador
You can read about Matrakçı Nasuh and here is a wonderful book for you named ‘Matrakçı Nasuh and his Menazilname, Swordsman, Historian, Mathematician, Artist, Calligrapher’ which is a 2 volumes book
The miniature tradition is still with us today and there is a very talented young artist called Murat Palta who has modernised the miniature tradition. Have a look at some of his amazing work!
This is one of my most favourite of Murat Palta’s work
Don’t forget to check out Murat Palta’s exhibitions at art Galleries when you are in İstanbul!
