MATRÂKÇI ON THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN...
Matrâkçý Nasuh is the undisputed master of the topographic miniature painting. A contemporary of Süleyman the Magnificent, Matrâkçý Nasuh was a versatile Renaissance man who wrote books on history, mathematics, sports and chivalry, as well as having a very special place in the art of miniature painting. The 16th century cities depicted in the topographic miniatures without human figures that he painted in his own inimitable style are unique documents today. Matrâkçý Nasuh included city miniatures in his three books as an adjunct to the texts. The first book describes a campaign by the Ottoman fleet to the northern shores of the Mediterranean, during which he made miniatures of such port cities as Genoa, Antibes, Toulon, Nice and Marseilles. The second chapter of the same work depicts places and incidents relating to the Ottoman campaigns against Hungary. Matrâkçý’s second work meanwhile relates campaigns and incidents from the reign of Sultan Bayezid II. Here we find pictures of the Ottoman fleet and of the cities and fortresses, such as Modon, Kili,