Turkish “miniatures” are a witness to the Renaissance in the history of Islamic art

The art of explaining texts by means of miniature illustrations "miniatures" flourished in the various Turkish eras, and was considered one of the most important branches of Islamic art that lived many eras of the renaissance under the ancient Turkish states.

So what are miniatures, how did they arise and flourish in Turkish times, why did the ancient Turks use them, and then how did they maintain their place in the Turkish heritage and survive the flood of modern day technologies?

Miniatures are defined as an art of high-resolution painting that does not depend on showing the image on light or shadow (social networking sites)

The Seljuk and Ottoman sultans used the miniature for self-glorification motives to memorialize them and to depict their achievements and victories and the most prominent transformations of the state during their respective reigns. They also used them as historical documents preserving their events such as inauguration ceremonies, circumcision of heirs to the throne and weddings.

As for the men of the state, merchants and the wealthy, they used the miniatures for aesthetic purposes and to decorate the squalid palaces that they owned in a way that showed their power.

The miniature drawings are often devoid of frames and straight lines that demarcate the boundaries because this art is based on transmitting the complete narrative with mentioning its finer details that allow the miniature to be narrated through volumes commensurate with the importance of the event and the personality associated with it.

The miniature pictures are located in old books and official documents in a manner similar to illustrations in scientific letters and research studies, and the attached pictures in colored books are replaced as if they were infographics in our modern era.

Despite the disappearance of the ages of the sultans who pledged it as a traditional art, there are a few Turkish painters who still master in the manufacture of miniature by individual efforts that created a foothold in front of the flood of modern art.

And recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "UNESCO" included Turkish "miniature" art on the list of intangible cultural heritage around the world.

Pictures of miniatures appear in old books and official documents in a manner similar to illustrations (communication sites)

Various schools

Turkish art encyclopedias define miniature as an art of high-resolution painting that does not depend on showing the image on light or shadow, and some references believe that the origin of the word dates back to the Latin (miniare), which refers to the painting painted in red.

Some researchers in the history of Turkish art say that the miniatures reflect the spirit of Islamic art that blends the cultures of Arabs, China, Persia, Byzantium and bygone Greek civilization, but it flourished precisely under the Uyghur Empire, which reached its apogee in Anatolia between the seventh and ninth centuries AD.

And if the phonetic nature of the word miniatures suggests that it has an Arab origin, then the academic and researcher at the Institute of Fine Arts in Istanbul Gökçe Sonmez confirms that there is no historical evidence for this, explaining that the word is present in all languages ​​whose owners deal with this art.

Sonmez told Al-Jazeera Net that the Turks called this art the plural form of "Minyatürler", which is the same name in Persian "miniature" and French (miniature), which indicates the convergence of the name in the same Latin root.

The Turks knew miniatures in early ages, as they formed part of the rituals of worship in the German religion that they embraced before Islam, then lived its golden age with the Ottoman sultans who transferred them to the Americas and appeared in Egypt, the Levant and Baghdad.

This art developed its own schools in North Africa, Asia Minor, the Middle East and parts of Europe during the Ottoman period, which explains its association with Islamic art, which the Ottomans adopted as an identity for their aesthetic heritage.

Sunmez says that the Ottomans specifically found in miniature an art in harmony with the spirit of Islamic law, which permits aesthetic drawing and embroidery and refuses to draw faces or carve statues that depict the faces of figures.

She points out that the miniatures still to this day reflect the culture of the palaces that used to decorate their walls and were given by state men to the rulers and sultans, as Sonmez says that the miniature pictures are among the most valuable art that the Ottomans left behind.

Miniatures are often devoid of frames and straight lines (social media)

An art that clings to life

The Ottoman Sultans preferred to use the words "drawing and embroidery" to using the word miniature that the Turks passed on from generation to generation, so that their drawings were preserved on Ottoman correspondence papers in museums and official manuscript libraries spread in Turkey.

According to the Turkish Culture Portal (TKP), the Turks focused their use of miniature on the history that depicted wars, campaigns and feasts in a realistic way, unlike other peoples who used them in various scientific and literary fields.

Objectively speaking, the miniatures allow researchers in the modern era to study the customs, traditions and lifestyle that prevailed in a period, but in terms of form, they enriched the visual content of the cultural and literary heritage of the Ottoman era, and provided rich material for researchers in history, arts and sociology.

Despite their small numbers, few painters and engravers in Turkey still practice "miniature", such as Taner Alakush, a specialist in this art, and Nevin Yapı, who practices miniature painting on orchids.

A number of shops specializing in art and antiques in Istanbul also display modern paintings drawn in miniatures that express modern life with drawings and decorations inspired by the contemporary environment, including cultural and technological outputs and inventions.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had included Turkish miniature art in its list of intangible human cultural heritage, following its virtual meetings between 14 and 19 December (2020) in the French capital, Paris.

In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the number of Turkish cultural elements registered in the list of the intangible human heritage of UNESCO has reached 20, and said, "The roots of this art extend to our rich history of cultural values, which we will continue to promote by introducing, protecting and reviving them."