Turkish Miniature Painting

Boardbook. The vigorous personality and the unconventional approach that characterize Turkish miniature painting spring from a Central Asian tradition that goes back to the ancient nomadic and pre-Islamic Turkestani arts. From its 6th-century origins to the establishment of the first Islamic school of miniature painting in Baghdad in the 12th century and thence to its brilliant flowering under the Ottoman Empire, this art has found its subjects in legend, in history, in religion, in poetry, and in the everyday life of the people. Its portrayals, as exemplified in the twelve miniatures that appear in this volume, range from such mythological creatures as "The Beast of the Earth" to exotic court beauties like the one who posed for "A Turkish Lady of the 18th Century" and from religious episodes like "The Nativity of Muhammed" to magnificent historical scenes like "The Enthronement of Selim II." "The Turk," as the author points out in her Introduction, "loves to depict, sometimes humorously, bodies in movement and is at his best when he is portraying crowds or genre scenes. He does not idealize his subject, preferring to present it in the guise of everyday life as observed by the artist.. Using pigments mixed with white of egg, the Turk covers surfaces with colors whose brilliance 'would put the sun to shame.' To¬gether with patches of contrasting color, he often uses subtly graduated nuances of the same shade. In reli¬gious painting, deep emotion is expressed through austere simplicity." It is with these techniques that the Turkish miniaturists have been able to create a pageantry that is no less inspired than it is colorful. Reproduced here in full color are 12 brilliant examples of Turkish miniature painting from the late 16th to the 18th century. The selection of the plates and the black-and-white figural illustrations, the informative historical survey, and the vivid commentaries on the miniatures themselves are the work of an exceptionally competent authority.