1.
Culture of the Ottoman Empire
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Ottoman culture evolved over several centuries as the ruling administration of the Turks absorbed, adapted and modified the cultures of conquered lands and their peoples. Tevfik Fikret, born in 1867, is considered the founder of modern Turkish poetry. Nevertheless, a number of genres - the travelogue, the political treatise, from the 19th century, the increasing influence of the European novel, and particularly that of the French novel, began to be felt. Şemsettin Samis Taaşuk-u Talat ve Fitnat, widely considered the first Turkish novel, was published in 1872, other notable Ottoman writers of prose were Ahmet Mithat and Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil. The most significant figure in the field, the 16th-century architect and engineer Mimar Sinan, was a Muslim convert of Armenian descent and his most famous works were the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne and the Suleiman Mosque in Constantinople. One of his pupils, Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, designed the early 17th century Blue Mosque, the Diwani script is a cursive and distinctively Ottoman style of Arabic calligraphy developed in the 16th and early 17th centuries. It was invented by Housam Roumi, reaching its greatest development under Süleyman I the Magnificent, the highly decorative script was distinguished by its complexity of line and by the close juxtaposition of the letters within words. Other forms included the flowing, rounded Nashki script, invented by the 10th-century Abbasid calligrapher Ali Muhammad ibn Muqlah, noted Ottoman calligraphers include Seyyid Kasim Gubari, Şeyh Hamdullah, Ahmed Karahisari, and Hâfiz Osman. The weaving of such carpets originated in the cultures of central Asia. Turks used carpets, rugs and patterned kilims not just on the floors of a room, but also as a hanging on walls and doorways and they were also commonly donated to mosques, which often amassed large collections of them. Hereke carpets were of high status, being made of silk or a combination of silk and cotton. Other significant designs included Palace, Yörük, Ushak, and Milas or Türkmen carpets, Yörük and Türkmen represented more stylized designs, whereas naturalistic designs were prevalent in Palace. The Ottoman Empire was noted for the quality of its gold- and silversmiths, jewelry had particular importance as it was commonly given at weddings, as a gift that could be used as a form of savings. Silver was the most common material used, with gold reserved for more pieces, designs often displayed complex filigree work and incorporated Persian. Apart from the traditions of its constituent peoples, the Ottoman Empire evolved a distinct style of court music. This was a vocal form, with instrumental accompaniment, built on makamlar. Another distinctive feature of Ottoman music were the mehterân, the bands used by the Janissaries. These bands were the ancestors of modern bands, as well as of the brass ensembles popular in traditional Balkan music
2.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
3.
Ottoman architecture
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Ottoman architecture is the architecture of the Ottoman Empire which emerged in Bursa and Edirne in 14th and 15th centuries. For almost 400 years Byzantine architectural artifacts such as the church of Hagia Sophia served as models for many of the Ottoman mosques, overall, Ottoman architecture has been described as Byzantine architecture synthesized with architectural traditions of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Ottomans achieved the highest level architecture in their lands hence or since, today, one finds remnants of Ottoman architecture in certain parts of its former territories under decay. With the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, the years 1300–1453 constitute the early or first Ottoman period and this period witnessed three types of mosques, tiered, single-domed and subline-angled mosques. The Hacı Özbek Mosque in İznik, the first important center of Ottoman art, is the first example of an Ottoman single-domed mosque, the domed architectural style evolved from Bursa and Edirne. The Holy Mosque in Bursa was the first Seljuk mosque to be converted into a domed one, among these are the Fatih Mosque, Mahmutpaşa Mosque, the tiled palace and Topkapı Palace. The Ottomans integrated mosques into the community and added soup kitchens, theological schools, hospitals, Turkish baths, during the classical period mosque plans changed to include inner and outer courtyards. The inner courtyard and the mosque were inseparable, the master architect of the classical period, Mimar Sinan, was born in 1489/1490 in Kayseri and died in Istanbul in the year 1588. Sinan started a new era in world architecture, creating 334 buildings in various cities, Mimar Sinans first important work was the Şehzade Mosque completed in 1548. His second significant work was the Süleymaniye Mosque and the surrounding complex, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne was built during the years 1568–74, when Sinan was in his prime as an architect. The Rüstempaşa, Mihriman Sultan, Ibrahimpasa Mosques and the Şehzade, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, Roxelana, most classical period design used the Byzantine architecture of the neighboring Balkans as its base, and from there, ethnic elements were added creating a different architectural style. During the reign of Ahmed III and under the impetus of his grand vizier İbrahim Paşa, due to its relations with France, Ottoman architecture began to be influenced by the Baroque and Rococo styles that were popular in Europe. The Baroque style is noted as first being developed by Seljuk Turks, examples of the creation of this art form can be witnessed in Divriği hospital and mosque a UNESCO world heritage site, Sivas Çifteminare, Konya İnce Minare museum and many more. It is often called the Seljuk Baroque portal, from here it emerged again in Italy, and later grew in popularity among the Turks during the Ottoman era. Various visitors and envoys were sent to European cities, especially to Paris, to experience the contemporary European customs, the decorative elements of the European Baroque and Rococo influenced even the religious Ottoman architecture. On the other hand, Mellin, a French architect, was invited by a sister of Sultan Selim III to Istanbul and depicted the Bosphorus shores and the pleasure mansions placed next to the sea. During a thirty-year period known as the Tulip Period, all eyes were turned to the West, however, it was about this time when the construction on the Ishak Pasha Palace in Eastern Anatolia was going on. Beginning with this period, the class and the elites in the Ottoman Empire started to use the open
4.
Iznik pottery
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The designs combined traditional Ottoman arabesque patterns with Chinese elements. The change was almost certainly a result of intervention and patronage by the recently established Ottoman court in Istanbul who greatly valued Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. During the 16th century the decoration of the pottery gradually changed in style, becoming looser, initially turquoise was combined with the dark shade of cobalt blue and then the pastel shades of sage green and pale purple were added. Finally, in the middle of the century, a very characteristic bole red replaced the purple, the ceramic collection of the Topkapi Palace includes over ten thousand pieces of Chinese porcelain but almost no Iznik pottery. Following the establishment of the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century, after this initial period, Iznik vessels were made in imitation of Chinese porcelain, which was highly prized by the Ottoman sultans. As the potters were unable to make porcelain, the vessels produced were fritware, the originality of the potters was such that their use of Chinese originals has been described as adaptation rather than imitation. Chinese ceramics had long admired, collected and emulated in the Islamic world. This was especially so in the Ottoman court and the Safavid court in Persia which had important collections of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, such Chinese porcelains influenced the style of Safavid pottery and had a strong impact on the development of Iznik ware. By the mid-16th century, Iznik had its own vocabulary of floral, decoration progressed from pure symmetry to subtle rhythms. Although it is now believed that all the pottery was produced in Iznik the earlier names associated with the different styles are often used. In the 19th century until the 1860s all Islamic pottery was known as Persian ware. However, between 1865 and 1872 the Musée de Cluny in Paris acquired a collection of polychrome pottery with a design that included a bright sealing-wax red. The ewer has an inscription in Armenian script under the glaze on its base stating that the vessel was in commemoration of Abraham, servant of God, as a result, pottery with similar spiral patterns became known as Golden Horn ware. It was not until the 1930s that art historians realised that the different styles of pottery were probably all produced in Iznik. This chronology has been generally accepted, the Abraham of Kutahia ewer of 1510 is not the only vessel with a possible Kütahya origin. Lane argued that it was unlikely that either the Abraham of Kutahia ewer or the bottle had been made in Kütahya. The designs, materials and manufacturing technique appear to have similar to that used in İznik. Kütahya is further from Istanbul with less access to the capital and was probably only a small pottery producing centre in the 16th century
5.
Islamic calligraphy
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Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, based upon the alphabet in the lands sharing a common Islamic cultural heritage. It includes Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian calligraphy and it is known in Arabic as khatt Islami, meaning Islamic line, design, or construction. The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the Quran, chapters, deep religious association with the Quran, as well as suspicion of figurative art as idolatrous has led calligraphy to become one of the major forms of artistic expression in Islamic cultures. As Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated, most works follow examples set by well established calligraphers, in antiquity, a pupil would copy a masters work repeatedly until their handwriting was similar. The most common style is divided into angular and cursive, each divided into several sub-styles. Some styles are often written using a metallic-tip pen, Islamic calligraphy is applied on a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and inscriptions. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing, the advent of paper revolutionized calligraphy. While monasteries in Europe treasured a few volumes, libraries in the Muslim world regularly contained hundreds. Coins were another support for calligraphy, beginning in 692, the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing visual depiction with words. This was especially true for dinars, or gold coins of high value, generally the coins were inscribed with quotes from the Quran. By the tenth century, the Persians, who had converted to Islam, so precious were calligraphic inscribed textiles that Crusaders brought them to Europe as prized possessions. A notable example is the Suaire de Saint-Josse, used to wrap the bones of St. Josse in the Abbey of St. Josse-sur-Mer near Caen in northwestern France, Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script. The style emphasizes rigid and angular strokes, which appears as a form of the old Nabataean script. The Archaic Kufi consisted of about 17 letters without diacritic dots or accents, afterwards, dots and accents were added to help readers with pronunciation, and the set of Arabic letters rose to 29. It is developed around the end of the 7th century in the areas of Kufa, Iraq, the style later developed into several varieties, including floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered, and squared kufi. There were no set rules of using the Kufic script, the common feature is the angular, linear shapes of the characters. Common varieties include square Kufic, a known as bannai. Contemporary calligraphy using this style is popular in modern decorations
6.
Oil wrestling
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Oil wrestling, also called grease wrestling, is the Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil, the term Güreş is shared with other forms of wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers across Europe and Central Asia, such as the Uzbek kurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar köräş. Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet, thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latters kisbet. To win by this move is called paça kazık, if there is no winner, play continues for another 15 minutes—10 minutes for the pehlivan category, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor. The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1362, is the oldest continuously running, oil wrestling festivals also take place in northern Greece in the Eastern Macedonia and West Thrace. In recent years, this style of wrestling has become popular in other countries, particularly the Netherlands. Cognate forms of wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers are found throughout Western Eurasia under the names Köraş, Khuresh, Kurash. Oil wrestling can be traced back to the ancient Sumer and Babylon, greco-Roman traditions also point to the practice of oil wrestling. Turkish wrestlers started covering themselves according to Islamic law after the 10th century, the Turkish word for wrestling can be traced back to the old Oghuz Turkic languages, which originate from the Eurasian steppes, where wrestling has also been practiced. This form continued to what is known as Yağlı Güreş or Turkish oil wrestling. In the Ottoman Empire, wrestlers learned the art in special schools called tekke, which were not merely athletic centres, wrestlers oil one another prior to matches as a demonstration of balance and mutual respect. If a man defeats an opponent, he kisses the latters hand. Ottoman chroniclers and writers attest that the Kırkpınar Games have been every year since 1362. The games have been cancelled only about 70 times, the original site was some 35 kilometres distant. In 1924, they were moved to the present location after the Balkan War, there are some organized oil wrestling competitions outside Turkey, particularly by the Royal Dutch Power Sport Federation in the Netherlands. Süleyman Şahin Gazanfer Bilge Alper Yazoğlu * Hüseyin Şahin * James Olais Seyfettin Selim * Gubby * • These aghas were awarded a golden belt, Kırkpınar Karakucak Wrestling in Turkey Kurash Khuresh Award winning photo documentary by Michael Craig
7.
Turkish carpet
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It denotes a knotted, pile-woven floor or wall covering which is produced for home use, local sale, and export. Carpet weaving represents a traditional art, dating back to pre-Islamic times, during its long history, the art and craft of the woven carpet has integrated different cultural traditions. The arrival of Islam and the development of the Islamic art also influenced Turkish carpet design, the history of its designs, motifs and ornaments thus reflects the political and ethnic history and diversity of the area of Asia minor. However, scientific attempts were unsuccessful, as yet, to attribute a particular design to an ethnic, regional. When political contacts and trade became more intense between Western Europe and the Islamic world after the 12th century AD, also woven carpets became known in Europe. When Western European art historians developed a scientific interest in oriental carpets in the late 19th century, within the group of oriental carpets, the Turkish carpet is distinguished by particular characteristics of dyes and colours, designs, textures and techniques. Usually made of wool and cotton, Turkish carpets are tied with the Turkish, examples range in size from pillow to large, room-sized carpets. The earliest known examples for Turkish carpets date from the thirteenth century, distinct types of carpets have been woven ever since in workshops, in more provincial weaving facilities, as well as in villages, tribal settlements, or by nomads. Carpets were simultaneously produced for different levels of society, with varying materials like sheep wool. No silk piled carpets made in Turkey have been found that were before 1870, not till the early 20th century were silk pile carpets knotted in Turkey using silver and gold threads with patterns based upon 16th century Imperial Safavid Iranian carpets. Turkish carpets are regarded as objects of art in their country of origin, in Europe, Turkish carpets appear in Renaissance paintings, providing a context of prestige and dignity which is still understood today. Since the late century, Turkish and oriental carpets have been subject to art historic and scientific interest in the Western world. More recently, also woven carpets have attracted collectors and scientists interest. In the late century, projects started to revive the traditional art of Turkish carpet weaving by using hand-spun, naturally-dyed wool. The raw material to produce carpets had to be available during the migration. Sheep and goats provided the wool, natural dye could be derived from plants, as such, woven tissues could serve both utilitarian and decorative purposes, depending on the shape and size in which they were produced. The beginning of carpet weaving remains unknown, as carpets are subject to use, deterioration, controversy arose over the accuracy of the claim that the oldest records of flat woven kilims come from the Çatalhöyük excavations, dated to circa 7000 BC. The excavators report remained unconfirmed, as the paintings depicting kilim motifs were said to have disintegrated shortly after their exposure
8.
Ottoman clothing
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Ottoman clothing is the style and design of clothing worn by the Ottoman Turks. While the Palace and its court dressed lavishly, the people were only concerned with covering themselves. Starting in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, administrators enacted sumptuary laws upon clothing, the clothing of Muslims, Christians, Jewish communities, clergy, tradesmen, and state and military officials were particularly strictly regulated during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. In this period men wore outer items such as mintan, zıbın, şalvar, kuşak, potur, entari, kalpak, sarık on the head, çarık, çizme, çedik, Yemeni on the feet. The administrators and the wealthy wore caftans with fur lining and embroidery, whereas the class wore cübbe and hırka. Womens everyday wear was şalvar, a gömlek that came down to the mid-calf or ankle, a short, fitted jacket called a hırka, and a sash or belt tied at or just below the waist. For formal occasions, such as visiting friends, the added an entari. Both hırka and entari were buttoned to the waist, leaving the open in front. Both garments also had all the way to the throat. All of these clothes could be colored and patterned. However, when a left the house, she covered her clothes with a ferace. She also covered her face with a variety of veils or wraps, bashlyks, or hats, were the most prominent accessories of social status. While the people wore külahs covered with abani or Yemeni, the cream of the society wore bashlyks such as yusufi, örfi, katibi, kavaze, during the rule of Süleyman a bashlyk called perişani was popular as the palace people valued bashlyks adorned with precious stones. Kavuk, however, was the most common type of bashlyk, for this reason, a related tradesmenship was formed in the 17th century. Fur was a material of prestige in that period, political crises of the 17th century were reflected as chaos in clothes. The excessively luxurious compulsion of consumption and showing off in the Tulip Era lasted till the 19th century, the modernization attempts of Mahmut II in 1825 first had its effects in the state sector. While sarık was replaced by fez, the employed in Bab-ı Ali began to wear trousers, setre. Womens clothes of the Ottoman period were observed in the mansions, entari, kuşak, şalvar, başörtü, ferace of the 19th century continued their existence without much change
9.
Persian miniature
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A Persian miniature is a small painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are comparable to the Western and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, the Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent. Persian art under Islam had never completely forbidden the human figure and this was partly because the miniature is a private form, kept in a book or album and only shown to those the owner chooses. It was therefore possible to be free than in wall paintings or other works seen by a wider audience. In Islamic art this is referred to as illumination, and manuscripts of the Quran, in later periods miniatures were increasingly created as single works to be included in albums called muraqqa, rather than illustrated books. This allowed non-royal collectors to afford a representative sample of works from different styles, the bright and pure colouring of the Persian miniature is one of its most striking features. Lighting is even, without shadows or chiaroscuro, walls and other surfaces are shown either frontally, or as at an angle of about 45 degrees, often giving the modern viewer the unintended impression that a building is hexagonal in plan. Buildings are often shown in complex views, mixing interior views through windows or cutaways with exterior views of parts of a facade. Costumes and architecture are always those of the time, many figures are often depicted, with those in the main scene normally rendered at the same size, and recession indicated by placing more distant figures higher up in the space. More important figures may be larger than those around them. The dress of figures is shown with great care, although artists understandably often avoid depicting the patterned cloth that many would have worn. Even when a scene in a palace is shown, the viewpoint often appears to be from a point some metres in the air. This is used in all the manuscripts for the court that constitute the most famous Persian manuscripts. The miniatures normally occupy a full page, later spreading across two pages to regain a square or horizontal landscape format. There are often panels of text or captions inside the picture area, the rest of the page is often decorated with dense designs of plants and animals in a muted grisaille, often gold and brown, text pages without miniatures often also have such borders. In later manuscripts, elements of the miniature begin to expand beyond the frame, another later development was the album miniature, conceived as a single picture rather than a book illustration, though such images may be accompanied by short lyric poems. The withdrawal of Shah Tahmasp I from commissioning illustrated books in the 1540s probably encouraged artists to transfer to these works for a wider circle of patrons
10.
Paper marbling
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Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either water or a viscous solution known as size. Through several centuries, people have applied marbled materials to a variety of surfaces and it is often employed as a writing surface for calligraphy, and especially book covers and endpapers in bookbinding and stationery. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique monotype, there are several methods for making marbled papers. A shallow tray is filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are applied to the surface with an ink brush. Various additives or surfactant chemicals are used to float the colors. A drop of color made of plain water with the addition of surfactant is used to drive the drop of color into a ring. The process is repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings, the floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors. In the 19th century, Tokutaro Yagi, the Kyoto master of Japanese marbling, developed a method that uses a piece of bamboo to gently stir the colors. A sheet of paper is then carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the floating design. The paper, which is made of kozo, must be unsized. Another method of marbling more familiar to Europeans and Americans is made on the surface of a viscous mucilage, the term Turkish was most likely used as a reference to the fact that many Europeans first encountered the art in Istanbul. Since the late 19th century, an extract of the carrageenan-rich alga known as Irish moss, has been employed for sizing. Today, many marblers use powdered carrageenan extracted from various seaweeds, another plant-derived mucilage is made from sodium alginate. In recent years, a size made from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. In the size-based method, colors made from pigments are mixed with a surfactant such as ox gall, sometimes, oil or turpentine may be added to a color, to achieve special effects. The colors are then spattered or dropped onto the size, one color after another, straw from the broom corn was used to make a kind of whisk for sprinkling the paint, or horsehair to create a kind of drop-brush. Each successive layer of pigment spreads slightly less than the last, once the colors are laid down, various tools and implements such as rakes, combs and styluses are often used in a series of movements to create more intricate designs
11.
Renaissance art
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Renaissance art, with Renaissance Humanist philosophy, spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new artistic sensibilities. Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the period to the Early Modern age. In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel with Late Medieval art, the following list presents a summary, dealt with more fully in the main articles that are cited above. Classical texts, lost to European scholars for centuries, became available and these included Philosophy, Prose, Poetry, Drama, Science, a thesis on the Arts and Early Christian Theology. Simultaneously, Europe gained access to advanced mathematics which had its provenance in the works of Islamic scholars, the advent of movable type printing in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, and an increasing number of books were written for a broad public. The establishment of the Medici Bank and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city, cosimo de Medici set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy. Humanist philosophy meant that mans relationship with humanity, the universe, a revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello. A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in Venice through the talented Bellini family, their influential inlaw Mantegna, Giorgione, Titian, the publication of two treatises by Leone Battista Alberti, De Pitura,1435, and De re aedificatoria,1452. Their masterpieces are the pulpits of the Baptistery and Cathedral of Pisa, the painters of the Low Countries at this period included Jan van Eyck, his brother Hubert van Eyck, Robert Campin, Hans Memling, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. Their painting developed independently of Early Italian Renaissance painting, and without the influence of a deliberate, the style of painting grew directly out of the Medieval arts of tempera painting, stained glass and book illumination. The media used was oil paint, which had long been utilised for painting leather ceremonial shields and accoutrements, because it was flexible, the earliest Netherlandish oil paintings are meticulous and detailed like tempera paintings. The material lent itself to the depiction of variations and texture. The Netherlandish painters did not approach the creation of a picture through a framework of linear perspective and they maintained a Medieval view of hierarchical proportion and religious symbolism, while delighting in a realistic treatment of material elements, both natural and man-made. Jan van Eyck, with his brother Hubert painted The Altarpiece of the Mystical Lamb and it is probable that Antonello da Messina became familiar with Van Eycks work, while in Naples or Sicily. His studies of perspective are thought to have influenced the painter Masaccio, the contemporary of Donatello, Masaccio, was the painterly descendant of Giotto, furthering the trend towards solidity of form and naturalism of face and gesture that he had begun a century earlier. Masaccios developments were carried forward in the paintings of Fra Angelico, the treatment of the elements of perspective and light in painting was of particular concern to 15th-century Florentine painters. Uccello was so obsessed with trying to achieve an appearance of perspective that, according to Vasari and his solutions can be seen in his masterpiece, the Battle of San Romano. In Naples, the painter Antonello da Messina began using oil paints for portraits and religious paintings at a date that preceded other Italian painters and he carried this technique north and influenced the painters of Venice
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Plato
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Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries, Platos entire work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years. Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead once noted, the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. In addition to being a figure for Western science, philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche, amongst other scholars, called Christianity, Platonism for the people, Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy, which originate with him. He was not the first thinker or writer to whom the word “philosopher” should be applied, few other authors in the history of Western philosophy approximate him in depth and range, perhaps only Aristotle, Aquinas and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank. Due to a lack of surviving accounts, little is known about Platos early life, the philosopher came from one of the wealthiest and most politically active families in Athens. Ancient sources describe him as a bright though modest boy who excelled in his studies, the exact time and place of Platos birth are unknown, but it is certain that he belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BCE. According to a tradition, reported by Diogenes Laertius, Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus. Platos mother was Perictione, whose family boasted of a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker, besides Plato himself, Ariston and Perictione had three other children, these were two sons, Adeimantus and Glaucon, and a daughter Potone, the mother of Speusippus. The brothers Adeimantus and Glaucon are mentioned in the Republic as sons of Ariston, and presumably brothers of Plato, but in a scenario in the Memorabilia, Xenophon confused the issue by presenting a Glaucon much younger than Plato. Then, at twenty-eight, Hermodorus says, went to Euclides in Megara, as Debra Nails argues, The text itself gives no reason to infer that Plato left immediately for Megara and implies the very opposite. Thus, Nails dates Platos birth to 424/423, another legend related that, when Plato was an infant, bees settled on his lips while he was sleeping, an augury of the sweetness of style in which he would discourse about philosophy. Ariston appears to have died in Platos childhood, although the dating of his death is difficult. Perictione then married Pyrilampes, her mothers brother, who had served many times as an ambassador to the Persian court and was a friend of Pericles, Pyrilampes had a son from a previous marriage, Demus, who was famous for his beauty. Perictione gave birth to Pyrilampes second son, Antiphon, the half-brother of Plato and these and other references suggest a considerable amount of family pride and enable us to reconstruct Platos family tree
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