Central Asia / China: Naif painting of a youth drinking wine with an older man or teacher. Siyah Kalem School, 15th century

The colouration of the youth's face and his conjoined eyebrows suggest a homoerotic theme not uncommon in Turkish and Persian art of the period.

Siyah Kalem or 'Black Pen' is the name given to the 15th century school of painting attributed to Mehmed Siyah Kalem. Nothing is known of his life, but his work indicates that he was of Central Asian Turkic origin, and thoroughly familiar with camp and military life. The paintings appear in the 'Conqueror’s Albums', so named because two portraits of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror are present in one of them.

The albums are made up of miniatures taken from manuscripts of the 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries, and one series of paintings is inscribed 'work of Master Muḥammad Siyah Kalem'. Something of the style and techniques of Chinese paintings is apparent in these, and an acquaintance with Buddhist art, particularly in the depictions of grotesque demonic figures.

It seems likely that certain paintings contained in the 'Conqueror's Albums' are of Chinese origin and may have been used as stylistic guides for painters in the Siyah Kalem tradition.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History

Theme:

SILK ROAD