Levni: Painting, Poetry, Colour

Levni Abdülcelil Çelebi is the most accomplished and famous Ottoman painter of the early eighteenth century. Levni received the title of court painter under Sultan Mustafa II (r. 1695-1703) and Ahmet III (r. 1703-1730), for whom he executed his marvelously composed masterpieces. Levni is the artistic extension of the tendencies and directions summarized as “westernization” that started to appear in the beginning of the eighteenth century. His personality and artistic talent, and the period’s conditions have mutually affected each other, opening the way for a new point of view in the Ottoman art of painting.