Evaluation of illuminated manuscripts held by the Kütahya Vahid Paşa and Tavşanlı Zeytinoğlu Libraries

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Thesis Type: Doctorate

Institution Of The Thesis: Dokuz Eylül University, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İslam Tarihi ve Sanatları Ana Bilim Dalı, Turkey

Approval Date: 2020

Thesis Language: Turkish

Student: ÜMRAN UYANIK

Supervisor: FİLİZ ADIGÜZEL TOPRAK

Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection

Abstract:

The art of illumination (tezhip) is an art which has found a prominent place in the world of traditional arts. The word tezhip is literally translated as gilding and comes from the Arabic word zeheb (lit. gold). Illumination is widely used to decorate manuscripts, plates of calligraphy, hilye-i şerif's, tuğra's (Sultan's signature) and various calligraphic manuscripts. As a result of interest and reverence for the book, many official and private libraries were established both in the Islamic world and in the Ottoman Empire; sometimes the leading personalities of the society have pioneered this as a patron. In this work, the works of art from in the libraries of Kütahya Vahid Paşa Yazma Eserler and Tavşanlı Zeytinoğlu are evaluated. These fifty pieces of illuminated artwork are evaluated from the points of view of composition, motifs, technique, colour and style. These works of art have been selected from seven hundred thirty illuminated pieces, based on various qualifications, chiefly composition, and craftsmanship. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part, the two libraries mentioned above will be introduced, and the development of illumination art, the benefaction tradition and the tradition of calligrapher houses will be discussed. The second part focuses mainly on cataloguing. The photographs, the identification plates, the analysis of the motifs and the drawings of the works are displayed. At the end of the second part, detailed drawings of the main forms,page decorations, motifs, pervaz (margins), the duraks (full stop), tığs and roses from these selected works are shown. The decoration parts of illumination art between 14th and 19th centuries are documented. The aim of this documentation is to show the development of illumination art and to create an opportunity to add new elements to the motif treasury. Keywords: Illumination Art, Manuscript, Traditional Arts, Library of Vahid Paşa, Library of Tavşanlı Zeytinoğlu