Miniatures by Matrakçı Nasuh in tile collection

2014 was launched by UNESCO as the Year of Matrakçı Nasuh, the Ottoman swordsman and miniature artist. A special tile collection is being created with his miniatures by a tile artist in Kütahya On the 450th anniversary of his death, one of the most important statesmen in the era of the Ottoman Sultan Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, Matrakçı Nasuh is being remembered. UNESCO has also added him to its 2014 agenda to commemorate him throughout the year. As well as being a mathematician, miniature master and the inventor of the game “matrak,” Matrakçı Nasuh is also described as one of the most talented swordsmen in history.

A tile master living in the western province of Kütahya, Fahri Çetinkaya has created a collection by processing some of Matrakçı Nasuh’s miniature works onto tile. Working as a tile artist since 1982, Çetinkaya said he had also created a collection last year by processing the world map by Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis onto 59 pieces of tile, and some of those tiles were selected by the Culture and Tourism Ministry for display on museum.

He said after Piri Reis, he had worked on the miniatures of Matrakçı Nasuh, and continued: “Matrakçı Nasuh was a very significant miniature artist at the time of Kanu Sultan Süleyman. When the sultan went to the Iraqi expedition, Nasuh painted the places he had passed. He also painted cities like Baghdad, Tabriz, Karbala and Aleppo. Our collection is made up of 19 pieces. They are floor tiles, vases, plates and bowls in various sizes. I also added mosaics to the collection. We plan to display them during the events held for the Year of Matrakçı Nasuh, to be organized by the Culture and Tourism...