were rather enthusiastic about different kinds of arts and that their enthusiasm has gone

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1 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 1 The Cultural Impact of Ottoman Empire on Art Ottoman Empire is famous not only for its territorial conquests, but for its conquests in the artistic world as well. It has come to everybody s attention that the Ottoman sultans were rather enthusiastic about different kinds of arts and that their enthusiasm has gone beyond the ordinary desire and skill to appreciate art. It has become a wonderful platform for the development of new art forms, as well as for the improvement of the old ones. By the improvement of the old art forms, naturally, it is meant that Ottomans were rather successful in adopting various arts with exquisite inspiration and zest for creative process. The period from Mehmet II in the fifteenth century to the early eighteenth century witnessed a flourishing of pottery, rugs, silk and other textiles, jewelry, arms and armor, and calligraphy (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p. 458). The majority of the artists felt the need to impress the sultan. It is true that they were generally filled with fear to lose their heads; however, they were also vying for the esteem, as well as the possibility of receiving rather exquisite rewards. Certainly, fear seems to be a rather dangerous motivator; nevertheless, along with the fact that artists were appreciated and encouraged to create, there appeared an intriguing mixture that, in case of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in more than 150 craft guilds in Istanbul in the second half of the sixteenth century (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p. 458). The possibility to be a free artist and apply oneself creatively attracted people from all over the world, as not only Turks wanted to impress their sultan. Persians, Greeks, Armenians, Italians and Hungarians were also coming to the Ottoman Empire to receive recognition and rewards for their development. The diversity of the artistic approaches to the process of creating something valuable has shaped the Ottoman culture allowing it to conspicuously contribute to the artistic world. Derman (1998, p. 3) quite aptly states that art is not the monopoly of any society. He is also right to say that that only when a society stamps its character on an art can the art be claimed, and recognized, as an expression of that society s identity (Derman, 1998, p. 3).

2 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 2 The Ottoman Empire did the exact thing, as it adopted the art of calligraphy, which is not of Turkish origin, and added so much religious fervor to it that there is no doubt that a unique art form was developed. As Derman notes (1998, p. 3), Turkish calligraphy designates the writing of aesthetic value, which is primarily based on the Arabic alphabet, which was adopted by the Ottomans after they had converted into Islam. The development of calligraphy as Turkish art form was rather slow at first; however, the conversion to Islam greatly accelerated the creative process. Indeed, these two events are interdependent, as the adoption of the Arabic alphabet appeared as a token of religious allegiance (Derman, 1998, p. 3). Therefore, it is no wonder that the term Arabic calligraphy grew over time into Islamic calligraphy. It is no exaggeration that in the Ottoman period, artisans did not only perfect the tools and materials employed in calligraphy (as they lavished more care and attention on those tools). Most importantly, they perfected several varieties of the Arabic script. Particularly, the art of calligraphy flourished in Istanbul, the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire. It is worth mentioning that Arabic, or Islamic, calligraphy prospered dynamically during the Ottoman period in particular due to the fact that this form of art was rather useful and attractive for the societies. In fact, this feature of the art of calligraphy alone increased the scale of use influencing public acceptance in a positive way. In such a way, besides the aesthetic value, calligraphy gained the role of a medium for reading and writing. Ultimately, all of the Ottoman calligraphers attempted to perfect the style of Abbasid calligrapher Yaqut al-mustasimi, who died at the time when the Ottoman Empire had only been gaining its potential to become the powerful state. The Kufic script was replaced by the six basic styles (also referred to as pens) and by calligraphy regulated by Yaqut. Unfortunately, over the lapse of time, despite the variety of materials were written by means of calligraphy at the very beginning of the emergence of this art form, the only early examples of calligraphic art that have survived are the inscriptions that were added on the monumental buildings. AssignmentLab.com

3 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 3 Sadly enough, there is no information about the influence that Ottoman sultans might have had on the development of the calligraphy as an art form during the first 150 years after the establishment of the Empire. In contrast, the thriving popularization of the art of calligraphy is attributed to Sultan Mehmet, as he was the one to perceive fine arts, and particularly the art of writing as a very important creative process. The works of the calligraphic genius Sheikh Hamdullah were donated to Sultan Mehmet s library by his son Prince Bayezid and survived to this day. The works of other calligraphic masters, Yahya Sôfi and Ali Sôfi, who lived and worked in Mehmet s days, were added to a number of monuments after Istanbul was conquered. A copy of the Quran prepared by the famous calligrapher, Ahmed Karahisari Mushaf-i-Serif, appears to be one of the great examples of fine Ottoman calligraphy. The work on this copy of the Quran, which is considered to be among the largest in the world, was started in the mid-sixteenth century and was probably completed by a student of Ahmed Karahisari (Abazov, 2009, p. 121). This particular copy of the Quran is lavishly designed, beautifully illustrated in classic Ottoman calligraphy, and floral ornamentation is displayed in the library in the Topkapi Palace Museum. It is known that Islam forbids depiction of images of humans or animals. Therefore, the floral ornamentation was predominant in the era of calligraphy in the manner of speaking. In the Arab world, calligraphers mostly concentrated on applying their skill in religious texts, which was adopted by the Turks. However, Ottoman calligraphers also managed to focus their art in order to decorate mosques, palaces, tombs and fountains (Aygin, 2002, n.p.). Keeping in mind the significance of sultans in the context of art development in general, and the art of calligraphy in part, it must be noted that each sultan s signature, also referred to as tughra, became one of the objects of elaborate artwork. Tughra, shaped like a hand with the thumb extended, spells out the sultan s name, titles and the name of his father (Aygin, 2002, n.p.). The earliest example of tughra goes back to the ruling of Orhan Gazi in The 15 th and 16 th century appeared quite fruitful in terms of the creation of various

4 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 4 brilliant examples of illuminated tughras. Time has passed, and the purity of such calligraphic art form as tughra was lost, and thus, the relational proportions in the layout of tughras began towards the end of the 18 th century (Derman, 2007, p. 9). Calligraphy remains alive until the present moment. In fact,in the beginning of the 20 th century, the Ottoman government promptly decided to establish an educational institution in order to teach the art of calligraphy. The academy for calligraphy instruction emerged, where along with the calligraphy, various arts related to book and paper production, including illumination, binding, marbling and miniature painting were taught. As Derman states, calligraphic instruction was based upon the observance of a strict discipline to a master-apprentice system (2007, p. 15). As it can be chronologically and historically examined, calligraphy was indeed an art form, a skill that was adapted from generation to generation, from Yaqut al-mustasimi to Sheikh Hamdullah, to Ahmed Karahisari and other great calligraphers. Each calligrapher s style had a raw originality of the Yaqut scripts and the borrowed perks of the masters who worked and created right before this particular one. The studies in the academy were devoted to the art of calligraphy and other books and papers related to production arts. It lasted for years of practice, at the end of which students received a written certified permit that allowed them to practice the art form. The art and practice of calligraphy was closed world, able to withstand any Westernizing influence that had taken the other Ottoman arts under its sway (Derman, 2007, p. 15). The absence of the Western world intrusion into a process so delicate and intrinsic allowed this particular form of art to evolve naturally, preserving its purity and authenticity. Thus, luckily, Ottoman calligraphers were able to enter the twentieth century with a high level of expertise, with no Western inclusion and obstacles. The art of calligraphy is closely connected with the authentic Ottoman architecture, monuments and mosque due to the fact that Ottoman calligraphers went beyond religious texts and administrative documents, applying their skills and artistic vision in order to decorate other objects of arts. Duiker and Spielvogel (2011, p. 458) believe that the greatest

5 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 5 contribution that the Ottoman Empire made to the world of art was definitely its architecture, especially the magnificent mosques of the second half of the sixteen century. As it was mentioned earlier, this particular time period appeared as a highpoint for the art of calligraphy and the emergence of Istanbul as the artistic centre of the Ottoman Empire. Traditionally, Ottomans built their prayer halls in mosques in subdivision, if one may say so, as the ultimate goal was to create a private, forestlike atmosphere, which was also achieved by numerous pillars that supported small individual domes. Due to the conversion to Islam, Turks started to construct their mosques in accordance with the open floor plan of the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, pp ). Such a decision was grounded on the necessity to have an uninterrupted central area under one large dome, where a lot of believers could pray and worship in unison, as it has been preferred by the Muslims all over the world. Sinan is considered to be the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire, as he was the gigantic talent that erected eighty-one mosques with an uncluttered area to pray. Sinan s masterpieces, such as the Suleymaniye and the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, were always part of a large socioreligious compound that included a library, school, hospital, mausoleums, and even bazaars, all of equally magnificent construction (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2011, p. 459). In conclusion, it can be mentioned once again that the Ottoman artistic contribution, indeed, is based on the authenticity of the state s masters, their lavishing and loving attitude towards the art itself. Works and creations of Turkish artists and artisans are exquisite; they are quite original and, indeed, can be safely attributed to the Ottomans, becoming the exception to the earlier statement that art is not the monopoly of any society. Turks have added so much passion and soul to their pieces, and ultimately created something new and unique. They reformed the art forms that had been established earlier by other artists, and yet they never comprised their primary nature, only enriching it.

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7 THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE ON ART 7 References Abazov, R. (2009). Culture and Customs of Turkey. Greenwood Publishing Group. Print. Aygin, E. (2002). Calligraphy Revived in Istanbul, the Heart of the Ottoman Empire. Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved on January 17, 2013 from pageid=438&n=calligraphy-revived-in-istanbul-the-heart-of-the-ottoman-empire Derman, M. U. (1998). Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Collection. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Print. Derman, M.U. (2007). The Art of Calligraphy in the Ottoman Empire. Retrieved on January 17, 2012 from %20_Long_PDF.pdf Duiker, W.J. and J.J. Spielvogel. (2011). World History. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Print. AssignmentLab.com