The Enchantment and Appropriation of the Italian Renaissance Painting

75 82. The trace and the differences between Hoja and his slave are not clear now for “I had seen someone I must be; and now I thought he too must be someone like me. The two of us were one person” TWC, 82

2.2. The Enchantment and Appropriation of the Italian Renaissance Painting

For Turkey, Western enchantment is not only on its modern and sophisticated science and technology but also on its painting, which shows the individuality of its object. In the previous sub-chapter, I presented how Hoja is enchanted by Western science and technology, which is more logical and do not depend on the prediction and interpretation of dreams and stars and how he adores the identity of his Venetian slave. In this section, I will show how Turkish miniature painting and its miniaturists are contested by the Italian Renaissance painting. The image of Frankish painting, which is depicted realistically, is in contrast to the Turkish miniature painting. Perspective is very important in this painting and the object is created based on the view of the painters. On the contrary, in Islamic miniature, the object is painted based on Allah’s view and its importance before God. Pamuk’s My Name is Red can be read as the negotiation of the East and the West that is presented in the two traditions of painting, Italian Renaissance painting and Turkish Miniature painting. 210 The different concept and the different way in seeing the object in the two traditions are things that make the problem 210 Orhan Pamuk, “Turkey’s Divided Character”, New Perspectives Quarterly 17, 2 2000: 20. 76 occur. The world-view underlying European Renaissance Painting is also different from that of tradition Ottoman miniature painting. The Ottoman painting objects is depicted not realistically and the miniaturists are not allowed to leave their signatures in the painting. By contrast, Italian Renaissance painting emphasizes individual perspective and people depicted in this manner are treated as unique and individual. Moreover, the painters in this manner can leave their signature in their works as a sign of their authenticity. However, those differences in seeing the world by the Frankish masters are things that tempted the miniature painters to adopt this painting style.

2.2.1. The Enchantment of the Italian Renaissance Painting

The most striking difference between Turkish miniature painting and Renaissance painting is in the depiction of faces. In Ottoman art, inherited from the Persian tradition under Mongolian-Chinese influence, all faces appear to be the same 211 because the image in this painting tradition is not depicted realistically. MNR, 67 In this model, a person is not treated as an individual but seen according to the way God see him, “Allah’s vision of the earthly realm” MNR, 88. In line with this argument, Laksana emphasizes that in miniature painting, the miniaturists do not depict human being as an individual but they paint him according to God’s vision. So, the image of this painting is not realist but otherworldly, for it is portrayed to make human being remember the transcendence. 212 Moreover, Butterfly also has the same idea that miniature 211 Çiçekoglu, “Difference, Visual Narration”, 127. 212 Laksana, “İstanbul: Melankoli”. 77 painting is a depiction of what God sees and the miniaturists are depicting the world through God’s eye. Butterfly said, “The illuminator draws not what he sees, but what Allah sees.” “Yes,” I said, “however, exalted Allah certainly sees everything we see.” “Of course, Allah sees what we see, but He doesn’t perceive it the way we do,” said Butterfly as if chastising me. I wanted to say, “It falls to us to believe in Allah and to depict only what He reveals to us, not what He conceals,” but I held my peace. MNR, 400 For the reason that the image is not realist, each individual in this painting manner has the same body size and face, as if each is an imitation of one another MNR, 80, which shows that human have the same position before God. Additionally, the miniaturists never sign their works as the Frankish masters do MNR, 67. This is along with what Butterfly says in his conclusion of the three stories he tells to Black. Painting in the manner of the old masters is depicted without any signature or variation. MNR, 72 “Style’ is imperfection,” I said, a perfect picture needs no signature, and thus “signature” and “style” are but means of being brazenly and stupidly self-congratulatory about flawed work. MNR, 73 From the quotation above, it can be concluded that miniature painters are not allowed to leave their signatures in their works because this painting style is the technique and style of the old masters, which they have imitated and if any trait found that distinguishes one artist’s work from that of another is seen as flaw. 213 On the other hand, the aim of the Italian Renaissance painting is to depict human being realistically. The painting is something in its own right and the image is of an individual. The Venetian masters had discovered painting 213 Martyn, “Turkish-German Literature”, 235. 78 techniques with which they could distinguish any one man from another...just by the distinctive shape of his face. This was the essence of “portraiture”. MNR, 28- 29 The concept of “portraiture” is explained more by a narration from a tree that is depicted in the manner of Frankish style. This new kind of painting style has made “these Frank painters depict the faces of kings, priests, noblemen, and even women in such manner that after gazing upon the portrait, we will be able to identify that person on the street. …This new style demands such talent that if we depicted one of the trees in the forest, a man who looked upon that painting could come here and...correctly select that tree from among the others”. MNR, 56-57 However, this painting manner is not only depicting human being realistically but also other living or non-living being realistically 214 such as animals and trees in the forest that is explained by the non-human narrators above. The art of portraiture, which is the critical theme in Pamuk’s My Name is Red, is introduced as a result of the visit of an Ottoman ambassador to Venice, Enishte Effendi, who is seduced by the Frankish style. On the day, Enishte once again travel to Venice as the Sultan’s ambassador, a painting hanging on a palazzo wall amazes him. MNR, 28 “I never forgot the painting that bewildered me so. I left the palazzo, returned to the house where I was staying as a guest and pondered the picture the entire night. I, too, wanted to be portrayed in this manner. But, no, that wasn’t appropriate, it was Our Sultan who ought to be thus portrayed Our Sultan ought to be rendered along with everything He owed, with the things that represented and constituted His realm. I settled on the notion that a manuscript could be illustrated according to this idea.” MNR, 28 Black’s uncle is intoxicated by the “Italian painting’s variety, colours, the pleasantness—even severity—of the soft light that seems to fall on it and the 214 Eder, “My Name is Red”. 79 meaning emanating from the object’s eyes” MNR, 118. The picture, which depicts the characteristics of its object, also seduces him to be portrayed in that manner. Moreover, figures and portraits of the Venetian painting, which are individual and of specific people, are in line with Enishte’s explanation that “on the thousands of framed faces that are depicted, each one is different from the next. They are distinctive and have unique human faces” MNR, 118. He adds that in Venetian painting, eyes can no longer simply be holes in a face…but must be like our own eyes, which reflect light like a mirror and absorb it like a well. Lips can no longer be a crack in the middle of faces flat as paper, but must be nodes an expression, fully expressing our joys, sorrows, and spirits with their slightest contradiction or relaxation. Our noses can no longer be a kind of wall that divides our faces, but rather, living and curious instruments with a form unique to each of us. MNR, 151 The depiction of an individual in the Italian Renaissance painting, who has unique traits and distinctive faces, shows that God created every people as “unique, special, and particular human being” MNR, 187. Therefore, the individuality that is captured in the Venetian painting has enchanted Enishte and led him to create his hybrid book made in half-Venetian, half-Persian. The Ottoman Sultans, Sultan Mehmet II and Sultan Murat III, are also enchanted by the Italian Renaissance style, which can help them to show their dynasty’s strength, power, and riches. In Venice, this painting manner, for rich and influential men, is a memento of their lives and a sign of their riches, power and influence—so they might always be there, standing before us, announcing their existence, individuality, and distinction. MNR, 118 For both Sultans, this 80 painting style is used as a way to proclaim their existence as the centre of the world. However, it was an irony that even though Mehmet had conquered Constantinople, he still had the desire to imitate the West by having his own portrait in the Italian Renaissance style, 215 by inviting Gentile Bellini. This irony is similar to Sultan Murad III who imitates Western style of painting in the secret book to impress the West. Mehmed II, to show his dynasty’s strength and power, also invited Western artists, Costanzo da Ferrara, to make him a portrait medal, which shows that the Sultan is riding a horse. The image of this medal later became a standard, immediately recognizable representation of Eastern power. 216 It is the horse that symbolises power 217 because the more realistic the horse is depicted, the more convincingly captured in the moment of surging strength, mastered by the horseman, the more certain we are that our response is natural and inevitable. 218 Zeytin or Velijan, or who is known as Olive, is the only miniaturist who is based on a real historical figure. He was an important Persian-Ottoman painter, trained by the Persian artist Siyavush, 219 “the famous illustrator specializing in faces in the Persian Shah’s Tabriz workshop” MNR, 279. Black states that he is the other character who is enchanted by the Frankish style and who “has the most enthusiasm for and the most ease with the style of the Frankish masters admired by Enishte Effendi”. MNR, 279 In fact, it is not only Olive who is dazzled by the Frankish painting but many miniaturists are also enchanted by this painting style. 215 Jardine and Brotton, Global Interests, 8. 216 Jardine and Brotton, Global Interests, 42. 217 Jardine and Brotton, Global Interests, 172. 218 Jardine and Brotton, Global Interests, 175. 219 Pamuk, Other Colours, 267. 81 The charm of the Italian Renaissance painting, which offers individuality, fame, and style cannot be denied by the Ottoman Sultans as well as the palace miniaturists that it later leads to imitation of the imitation of the painting style.

2.2.2. The Appropriation of the Italian Renaissance Painting

Until the present, Turkey is still negotiating its membership in the European Union and the development of its art can be one of the considerations of the EU’s acceptance of Turkey’s candidacy. Picasso’s exhibition in Sakip Sabanci Museum, which is the first major exhibition devoted to a Western artist, shows how Turkey has taken a big step to embrace Western Europe. Picasso’s grandson, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso even said that “the people here in Turkey really want and need to see modern art”. 220 Introducing Turks to Modern Western art, for Picasso is the symbol of the contemporary modernism project. I argue that Bernard Ruiz- Picasso’s statement above shows how the West sees that the East needs to be civilized trough this first time ever exhibition. Additionally, the painting exhibition proved that Turkey is part of the West and a part of that modernism. 221 The enchantment of the Italian painting style and the desire to be accepted by the West has encouraged Sultan Murad to “order the artists to surreptitiously learn Western artistic techniques and rather than to continue the miniature painting.” 222 Through the appropriation of the Venetian painting in the secret book, Pamuk tries to demonstrate the binary opposition between the Islamic miniature and the Italian Renaissance painting. In line with Said’s Orientalism, 220 Bozdoğan, The Cambridge History of Turkey, 467. 221 Sarah Rainsford, “Turks Relish First Picasso Show”, BBC News 24 November 2005, 14 February 2015 news.bbc.co.UK2hientertainment4466024.stm 222 Summarized from a conversation between Orhan Pamuk and Elizabeth Farnsworth in PBS NewsHour titled “Orhan Pamuk: Bridging Two Worlds” on November 20, 2002. 82 this appropriation reflects that the Italian painting is superior to the Ottoman miniature painting for this new painting method is believed to show the Ottoman Empire strength as well as to impress the West. Furthermore, I argue that the radical modernization conducted by the founder of Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, that wanted desperately to make Turkey more modern and Western is similar to the “Westernization” led by Sultan Murad that wanted his artists to learn to paint portrait, which is prohibited under Islam. Sultan Murad III, who is both directly brought from history by Orhan Pamuk and the reign Sultan in My Name is Red, commissions a secret book for the celebration of Hegira, which uses the Italian Renaissance style in depicting Islam’s military strength and the power of his reign. The Sultan, who is persuaded by Enishte Effendi, also invites a young Venetian painter, Sebastiano, to make his self-portrait. “Years ago, your Enishte duped Our Sultan into having a Venetian painter—his name was Sebastiano—make a portrait of His Excellency in the Frankish style as if He were an infidel king”. MNR, 361 As a result of Enishte’s influence on Sultan Murad’s growing interest in Frankish style of painting, Master Osman is forced by His Excellency to copy His portrait, which had been commissioned from a Venetian. MNR, 102 Not satisfied with that, in a disgraceful afford to my dignity, he had this shameful work given to me as a model to be copied; and out of dire fear of Our Sultan, I dishonourably copied that picture, which was made using infidel methods. MNR, 362 The copy of Sultan Murad’s portrait by Master Osman is the example of the appropriation of Frankish painting. After forcing Master Osman to copy His portrait, Murad III also makes the other adoption and imitation of the Italian Renaissance painting by asking Uncle Effendi to make the secret book. 83 Additionally, the best Ottoman miniaturists are also forced to change their painting tradition into the modern one that is using the Frankish style. This forced appropriation is a self-colonialism conducted by the Sultan towards the Master miniaturist as well as the palace miniaturists. His Excellency Our Sultan orders Enishte Effendi to start working on the secret book that is prepared as a present for the Venetian Doge. Besides, this book will also be a symbol of the vanquishing power of the Islamic Caliph Our Exalted Sultan, in the thousand years of Hegira. MNR, 121 The secret book, which “the Sultan wanted to have it completed in time” MNR, 35, is an irony of the Sultan’s modernism project. The painting style, that is believed as the symbol of infidelity, is not only prepared as a present for the Venetian Doge but also as the thousandth-year anniversary of the Hegira. Moreover, the Sultan also uses the West’s painting tradition to emulate their “power and superiority”. In this commissioned book, Enishte wants the things he depicted to represent Our Sultan’s entire world, just as the paintings of the Venetian masters. However, this secret book will be a little bit different from “the painting of the Venetian master, which is only accompanied by things that is significant in his life” MNR, 28. Enishte Effendi insists that the book he is working on will not only shows Our Sultan’s wealth alone, but His spiritual and moral strength along with His hidden sorrows MNR, 248: But unlike the Venetians, my work would not merely depict material objects, but naturally the inner riches, the joys, and fears of the realm over which Our Sultan rules. If I ended up including the picture of a gold coin, it was to belittle money; I included Death and Satan because we fear them. …I wanted the immortality of a tree, the weariness of a horse, and the vulgarity of a dog to represent His Excellency Our Sultan and His worldly realm. MNR, 27 84 In the last painting, it should be Sultan Murad’s painting and the depiction of His realm along with everything He has; His wealth, His power, as well as the strength of His dynasty. To the same degree, it is as what Enishte explains that: “…it was our Sultan who ought to be thus portrayed Our Sultan ought to be rendered along with everything He owned, with the things that represented and constituted His realm.” MNR, 28 Conversely, after Olive kills Enishte and steals the last painting, he covers up the portrait of the Sultan with his self-portrait. In the Coffee house, he struggles to draw his portrait with the help of a mirror. In fact, “the face on the page did not resemble his face in the mirror.” MNR, 307 This primitive picture I’ve made, without even achieving a fair resemblance of myself, revealed to me what we’ve known all along without admitting it: The proficiency of the Franks will take centuries to attain. MNR, 431 Master Osman, the other character brought from history, is a master miniaturist who preserves the old painting style. He, once again, stresses that Enishte Effendi is the one who is responsible for the imitation of Frankish painting by many miniaturists in the workshop. Moreover, he’s to blame for their enthusiastic imitation of European masters with the justification that “it is the will of our Sultan” MNR, 362. However, Black tells that, nowadays, many miniaturists, that is not only in Tabriz but also in Mashhad and Aleppo, have abandoned working images, which are part of a book and begin making odd single-leaf pictures—curiosities that will please European travellers—even obscene drawings. MNR, 25 One of those miniaturists is Stork. He mentions that, now, he is preparing obscene paintings for his Frankish patron as well as pasha. 85 Black was examining my paints…and the collage album that I’d made for a Frankish traveller, scenes of fucking and other indecent pages I’d secretly dashed off for a pasha. MNR, 82 Obscene drawing here is related to the drawing that is depicted realistically and using the miniaturist’s perfection. The miniaturist who paints using his individual perspective has shown how the “God’s perspective” painting is replaced by the obscene drawing as well as single-leaf pictures. In a parable on “style and signature”, Butterfly tells Black about a miniaturist who depicts a young Khan’s wife, a Tatar woman, with his individual touches. His ambition to style and perfection as well as the Khan’s adulation causes a terrible accident. The young Khan is very jealous to the Tatar woman because in the painting she is depicted with the miniaturist’s “obscenity gaze”. …this adulation caused the miniaturist to stray from good sense; incited by the Devil, he dismissed the fact that he was beholden to the old masters for the perfection of his pictures, and haughtily assumed that a touch of his own genius would make his work even more appealing. …In the paintings, the Khan…felt that his former bliss had been disrupted in numerous ways, and he grew increasingly jealous of his Tatar beauty who was depicted with the individual touch of the painter. MNR, 70 Lekesizalin, in “Art, Desire, and Death in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red”, also mentions that the miniaturist’s ambition to the perfect painting and gaze “comprise obscenity and transgression, which leads to the tragic consequences of his ambition with style and subjectivity” 223 . The jealous Khan takes another woman from the harem, which causes the death of the Tatar woman who hangs herself silently. Realizing that the miniaturist’s ambition with style and perfection 223 Ferma Lekesizalin, “Art, Desire, and Death in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red”, English Studies in Africa 52, 9 2009: 98. 86 that is behind this incident not with his Tatar woman, he immediately blinded the master artist. MNR, 70 Enishte Effendi and Sultan Murad III see the Italian Renaissance painting as a painting technique, which is greater, modern, and interesting than the Islamic Ottoman painting tradition. Sultan Murad, himself, even asks his miniaturists to study this painting technique as well as commissions a secret book, which adopts the Italian painting style. This commissioned book shows that the East imitates and adopts Western painting style in order to modernize itself and also to show its power and superiority to the West. Along with Said’s discourse on Orientalism, this constructed opposition demonstrates the difference between the Islamic Ottoman painting that is characterized as the old painting tradition and the Frankish painting that is signified as the new and modern painting tradition. At last, through the imitation of this painting style, the East has indicated Europe’s identity as superior.

3. Maintenance and Preservation of Eastern Aspects