The Tugra, or imperial monogram, of Suleiman the Magnificent, c. 1550–65. From the calligraphy section of the Islamic art collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Ottoman calligraphy and Arabic typography
• Flourishes
• Ghubar
• Calligraphy by Mouneer Al-Shaárani
• The Journal of Ottoman Calligraphy
• Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East
Wow, that is beautiful. If that’s his monogram, what did his signature look like…? ;)
Possibly not as detailed unless he wanted to spend all day drawing those flowers. I was pleased to find this in colour, I’d only seen a rough black and white reproduction before.
Suleiman the Magnificent reigned from 1520 to1566
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent
Tughras served a purpose similar to the Royal Cypher of British monarchs. Every Ottoman sultan(emperor) had his own individual tughra in which their full names,father’s name etc was written (for example “Abdulhamid han bin Abdulmecid el muzaffer daima el gazi” : Abdulhamid han son of Abdulmecid victorious forever el gazi).