Tracing the Visual Elements in “The Tidings of the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)” Painting in the Ottoman Manuscript of the “Siyer-i-Nebi”, Topkapi Library

Introduction: The subject of the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is one of the events that, based on the descriptions of religious books, was accompanied by extraterrestrial events such as the descent of angels, and it is rarely depicted in manuscripts. Among the remaining examples in this field, we can mention the illustrations of the Ottoman "Siyer-i-Nebi" book, belonging to the 16th century AD in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul which have scenes of the annunciation, the birth and the selection of the Prophet's nanny, and similarities with some Iranian paintings are evident in it. This book, in six volumes and with 814 paintings, is one of the most complete and best pictorial sources for describing the life of the Prophet (PBUH). The painting style is somewhat different from the common paintings of its contemporaries and shows the efforts of its creators to achieve an independent style. Using a new style by removing details, using non-transparent colors and shallow backgrounds is among these developments. The painting of the birth of the Prophet (PBUH) was formed based on the selection of visual elements that had their roots in the event, symbol and visual content common in Islamic countries, and therefore the ascension paintings, which have a richer visual foundation and background than the subject of the story of the Prophet's birth were selected as the pretext of this painting. This kind of research is important in terms of identifying and introducing the relationships of influencing and being influenced by painting in Iran and other countries, and since during the Safavid period, Iran's relations and interactions with neighboring countries increased, identifying the artistic relations of the works of that period can determine the dimensions of cultural relations.
Purposes & Questions: What is important in this research is to identify the relationship between the visual elements in the studied painting and the visual elements of Iranian paintings, which can be a step towards identifying the origins of the Ottoman school of painting. The main question of this research is: What are the origins and characteristics of the pictorial elements used in the birth announcement painting of the manuscript of Siyer-i-Nebi? This research was done with the aim of investigating the use of visual elements and finding the roots of motifs in the mentioned paintings.
Methods: The current research is fundamental in terms of its purpose and analytical-adaptive execution method, and the collection of its contents is based on library and documentary sources. The statistical population includes 814 illustrations of the "Siyer-i-Nebi" book and digital versions were used. In tracing the roots of the visual elements, the adaptation of the pictures announcing the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other related pictures with similar visual elements in the mentioned version, with the visual elements of the Iranian ascension paintings that belong to the Timurid and Safavid styles was considered. Therefore, a part of the statistical population includes the ascension paintings of the Timurid and Safavid periods and the pictures of the Prophet's birth in Iranian versions, which were used in the selection of pictures using the purposeful sampling method, and the images were qualitatively analyzed. Also, related narrative texts have been compared in this research.
Findings & Results: The results indicate that the selection of elements and subjects used in the mentioned painting was based on historical sources and with an emphasis on the transcendental aspect of this event, but in visual details, it was greatly influenced by the ascension paintings of Iran. Some of the visual elements used in the painting announcing the Prophet's birth can be matched with the visual elements of prominent Iranian Miraj paintings, including those of Behzad and Sultan Muhammad Naqash, and the Miraj painting of the Nabi's biography can be the connecting link of this overlap. Therefore, subjects such as the representation of angels, the horses of the prophets, the representation of the Kaaba and the composition of this work can be compared with Iranian ascension paintings, but the summarization and omission of details indicate an attempt to create a distinct and independent style from Iranian styles. In this work, by choosing symbolic elements in the three dimensions of characterization, space creation and action creation, the painter emphasizes the importance of a predictable and effective event. The visual elements used, although in terms of details and form, have distanced themselves from the factors of Iranian painting; but in terms of content and symbolism, they are efficient and effective in creating the intended meaning, and this style is repeated later in epics and other Ottoman paintings.