The Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum was opened in the exclusive Bosphorus Emirgan district of Istanbul in 2002. The Museum’s Collection of Ottoman Calligraphy presents a wide range of examples of 500 years of the art of Ottoman calligraphy at a glance, including rare handwritten copies of the Holy Qur’an, levhas (framed inscriptions), kıt’as (single pieces) and murakkas (albums), hilyes (descriptions of the Prophet), official documents such as fermans (imperial decrees), berats (imperial warrants granting a privilege) and menşurs (imperial appointments), the majority of which consist of works on religious subjects and official documents. The museum also preserves a collection of paintings that contains select examples of early Turkish painting in the Western style that was produced during the late Ottoman period.
For the first time since the Museum was founded, a comprehensive representation of works, 96 pieces in total, from the collection is now visiting Madrid, introducing the works of the almost legendary masters of this art form, from Şeyh Hamdullah, who is considered the founder of the art of Ottoman calligraphy, to calligraphers such as Crown Prince Korkut, Ahmed Karahisari, Derviş Ali, Hafız Osman, Yedikuleli Seyyid Abdullah, Mustafa Rakım, Kadıasker Mustafa İzzet, Sami Efendi and many others, who practiced their art from the end of the 15th century until the beginning of the 20th.
