HUMA 1845 Lecture Notes - Lecture 88: Sheikh Hamdullah, Yaqut Al-Hamawi, Soot
7 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Ottoman calligraphy represents a special genre of artistic production. The calligraphy that the ottomans produced had its origins in the early days of islam, when muslims began to search for the most elegant way to pen the sacred words of the qur"an. The history of ottoman calligraphy is the story of an unbroken chain of teachers and students who shaped their art through the study and emulation of the works of earlier masters. In the ottoman tradition, calligraphy was always passed from hand to hand, master to apprentice. Before they received permission to create and sign independent work, apprentices following a practice known as taklid, or imitation spent many years copying practice sheets penned by their masters. During this long and laborious training process, even the poorest of masters expected no remuneration from their students. Like their predecessors, ottoman calligraphers used arabic letters to produce considerable artistic effects.
