Mehmet the Black Pen

Jale Nejdet Erzen

《The Journal of Asian Arts & Aesthetics》 6期 (2020/05) Pp. 83-89

https://doi.org/10.6280/JAAA.202005_(6).0008

摘要

Mehmet Siyah Qalam also called Mehmet the Black Pen, is an enigmatic painter who is supposed to have lived around the 14th and 15th centuries in Asia and whose paintings were brought to the Topkapı Palace during the Egyptian expedition of Selim I. Many of these paintings allude to scenes of everyday life of merchants and shepherds and strange imaginary creatures. Although they seem to have belonged in a scroll, they had been cut into separate pieces and pasted on folios along with paintings that are of a very different style. The folder containing these paintings, most of which are signed ＂Mehmet Siyah Qalam＂ in diverse types of writing, is called the Fatih Album. The great creativity and strength of execution of most of these paintings have attracted many scholars since the early 20th century, yet without definite attribution. I would like to introduce this extraordinary artist to a wider audience and offer my interpretations on the painterly qualities of his work.

關鍵字

Black Pen ； Asian nomads ； Fatih Album