The Art Of Illumination (Tezhip)

Illumination (tezhip) is one of the Turkish decorative arts that illuminates the binding cover and pages inside the book by using different carats of gold with water color and gouache paint. Illumination, as a sophisticated art form, came to Anatolia from Persia and was greatly respected during the Seljuk and Ottoman dynasties (12-20th centuries CE). Illuminators were well supported by the rulers and therefore studios were set up in palaces, where many of the most elaborate works were commissioned.

These handwritten illuminated manuscripts, e.g. Qur’an, literary works, and scientific works are currently located in the libraries of former Ottomans capitals, e.g., Istanbul, Bursa, Konya, and Edirne. Finely detailed illumination is found on endowment deeds, the Sultans’ ornamental monograms (sing. tughra), legal decrees, and diplomas bearing the sultan’s stamp. The various compositions and techniques in illumination were applied to architectural decorations, motifs, colors on metals, woods, glass, leather, carpets, and fabrics.

Turkish illumination art reached its peak and produced the most sophisticated examples during the era of Fatih Sultan Mehmet with the famous illuminator Baba Nakkash. Other Ottoman Sultans, e.g., Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and Sultan Bayezid II, also preserved these arts and substantially supported artists including Hasan b. Abdullah, Bayram b. Dervish, Sahkulu, and Nakkash Kara Mehmet Chelebi, They were all well known illuminators and produced extraordinary and original works. After this so-called “classical era,” illuminative art began to be called “Turkish Rococo.”