Tamara Sollinger, NELC

Contact tamars@u.washington.edu

Suleymanname

My project is to examine images of the Suleymanname, a 16th century
illustrated manuscript of the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, and
to compare these images to other paintings from earlier illustated
manuscripts, such as the Great Mongol Shahnama and possibly some Persian
miniatures. I will consider why the Sulyemanname was made and for whom.  
What were the authors and artists trying to say about Sulyeman and his
reign? Why did the artists (or patron) choose these particular scenes to
illustrate and does the order of these images mean anything? Were they
inspired by earlier manuscripts, such as the Iskandar cycle in the
Shahnama? I myself see significant similarities between scenes in the
Great Mongol Shahnama and the Suleymanname. Perhaps one of the aims of the
artists was to show parallels between Suleyman and Alexander the Great in
order to make Sulyeman's story a new epic that was distinctly Ottoman.  
This project is for a course entitled 'Age of Beloveds' taught by Prof.
Walter Andrews during Spring quarter 2005.