Mohamed Zakariya and the Practice of Calligraphy Nancy Micklewright Synopsis: This presentation examines the creation of traditional Arabic calligraphy today through the life of Mohamed Zakariya, the foremost practitioner of this art in the United States. Beginning with Zakariya’s journey from Southern California to Virginia, via Morocco and Istanbul, we consider the core elements of…
Tag: Book Arts Topics
The Birth Scene of Iskandar (Alexander the Great)
The Birth Scene of Iskandar (Alexander the Great) Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım Synopsis: Museum collections often include works that are unidentified or inadequately studied. This presentation chases the source of an interesting birth scene depicted on a detached manuscript page, now held in the Brooklyn Museum, to an episode described in Nizami’s Iskandarnama (Book of Alexander). References: Milstein, Rachel.…
Contextualizing the Hünername (Book of Talents)
Contextualizing the Hünername (Book of Talents) Melis Taner Synopsis: This talk introduces the Hünername (Book of Talents), an illustrated manuscript prepared in the late 16th century at the Ottoman court. This work, composed in Ottoman Turkish by Seyyid Lokman, was conceived in four volumes, only two of which were completed. As a whole, the project deals with…
Ottoman Illustrated Histories
Ottoman Illustrated Histories Emine Fetvacı Synopsis: This talk introduces Ottoman painting through an examination of illustrated histories, which were the most popular works chosen for illustration during the sixteenth century. Through a close study of two manuscripts, we explore why these books were illustrated, what kinds of topics they focused on, and how they were…
Touching Mecca and Medina: The Dalā’il al-Khayrāt and Devotional Practices
Touching Mecca and Medina: The Dalā’il al-Khayrāt and Devotional Practices Sabiha Göloğlu Synopsis: This presentation explores a double-page painting of Mecca and Medina included in a late eighteenth-century Ottoman copy of the renowned prayer book entitled Dala’il al-Khayrat (Proofs of Good Deeds). This painting is important because it bears traces of devotional engagement with the images…
İbrahim Müteferrika and the First Printed Books of the Islamic World
İbrahim Müteferrika and the First Printed Books of the Islamic World Yasemin Gencer Synopsis: This presentation video offers an overview of the first Islamic incunabula printed at the Müteferrika press in the first half of the eighteenth century. A chronological survey of their visual attributes reveals the Ottoman publisher’s early experimentations with the new medium. …
A Safavid Painting of the Prophet Muhammad’s Miʿraj
A Safavid Painting of the Prophet Muhammad’s Miʿraj Christiane Gruber Synopsis: This presentation explores a 16th-century Persian manuscript painting that depicts the Prophet Muhammad’s celestial ascension (mi’raj). It focuses in particular on the Prophet’s facial veil and his flaming aureole as well as their relationship to metaphorical expressions as found in Persian Sufi poetry. It…