Specifications

• Turkish Miniatures
• What are Turkish Miniatures?
• The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval script.
• During the 16th century Turks used miniatures to illustrate manuscripts and events. Turkish miniatures from the Ottoman Empire era have long been the interest of many due to its unique qualities. The beauty of the Turkish miniatures come from the contours and the sense of color. The paper which is straightened by a heavy press was covered by red lead and the finish consisted of egg-white, starch, lead carbonate, gum tragacanth, salt of ammonia. After the text and tables were completed, the paper was handed to the miniaturists to be painted.
• The miniatures were either book illustrations or portraits depicting an important historic figure or even at times a ceremonious event. The subjects of the miniatures varied from the public and private lives of rulers, their portraits to historical events such as pictures depicting weddings or religious events. Some miniatures would tell stories of subjects and perhaps their heroic story. There are also several literary works and folk stories such as Leyla and Mecnun; anthologies; the world of botanies and animals, scientific books on alchemy, technical books; love letters; horoscopes translations which at times were direct copies from the original. Depictions of the holy shrine Kaaba as well as sports and especially horse-riding scenes are also part of many designs in the Turkish miniatures.