Calligraphic panel

h. 1278 [1861]

Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi (Emirgan, İstanbul, Türkiye)

The calligrapher Şükrü of Crete wrote the entwined Arabic inscriptions on this panel, consisting of the words, Tevekkeltu bi mağfirati’l-muheymini and (I place my trust in the forgiveness of God our protector) written in black ink and Huve’l-ğafûru zu’r-rahmeti (O bağışlayıcıdır, merhamet sahibidir) in red. Below the composition is the colophon written in red ink: ‘Written by Şükrü Giridî in the month of Cemazeyilevvel in the year 1278.’ One of the earliest examples of this type of composition appears to have been written in Herat during the Timurid period in the early 15th century. Another beautifully illuminated example dating from the early 16th century is the work of the illuminator Zeyneddin Mahmud (d. 1519?). Inspired by earlier calligraphers, the Ottoman calligrapher Abdullah Vefaî, who taught at the palace, wrote the same inscription in gold and red ink in the year 1136/1723-24. There are other examples of this popular composition written in the interior walls of mosques in the 19th century. A similar calligraphic panel is depicted by the painter Osman Hamdi Bey (d. 1910) in one of his paintings, which is in the Sakıp Sabancı Museum collection (SSM 200-0087).

Detail

Collection:

Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu

Title:

Calligraphic panel

Date:

h. 1278 [1861]

Dimensions:

23 x 50 cm

Medium:

Sized paper, black and red ink

Location:

Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi (Emirgan, İstanbul, Türkiye)

Object Number:

130-0572-SG

Calligraphic panel

Detail

Collection:

Title:

Date:

Dimensions:

Medium:

Location:

Object Number:

Credit:

Categories