AFTER LEVNI, OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1710-20

This Ottoman miniature recalls the style of the court artist Levni (Abdülcelil Chelebi), active under the patronage of Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-30). Levni was perhaps the greatest exponent of the 'Tulip Period' - a period in Ottoman history given to pleasure and extravagant living. Born in Edirne, Levni began his career as an illuminator and decorator but became known for the painting of portraits. His most important work is the Surnama of Vehbi, which he began in 1720, the year he was made naqqash-bashi, but most characteristic amongst Levni's works are a series of single figures prepared for albums. Atasoy and Çagman write that Levni naturally perpetuated both the art of album making, which was established in the context of Ottoman miniatures in the beginning of the 17th century, as well as the great popularity of single figure studies (Nurhan Atasoy and Filiz Çagman, Turkish Miniature Painting, Istanbul, 1974, p. 76). Whilst he adopted the static poses and classical style of the early 17th century, he reproduced them in a softer but freer and livelier manner. These characteristics are found in the present miniature, as well as in a number in an album in the Topkapi Palace Museum (published Ivan Stchoukine, La Peinture Turque d'après les Manuscrits Illustrés, II partie de Murad IV a Mustafa III 1623-1773, Paris, 1971, pls. LXXIX-LXXXII).