Aesthetic evaluation of leaf motifs in Sazyolu style in illumination art

Şahkulu, one of the most important painters of the 16th century, is among the most important artists who introduced and popularized the sazyolu style. The works of Şahkulu and his students brought a great innovation to the artistic understanding of the period and influenced the later periods of Turkish art. In the works, the forest is depicted with leaves, the most dominant motif of the sazyolu style. Dragons, various animals and hatâyî group motifs are used together with leaves in the forest. In the research, the leaf motifs in twenty works in the sazyolu style were analyzed stylistically and digital drawings of the motifs were made. In the thesis, the importance of the style for the art of illumination was emphasized by researching the literature on the sazyolu style. Inspired by the successful works produced in the past, new works in which leaf motifs are predominantly applied have been introduced to the art of illumination. Ten original works were produced by going beyond the classical illumination art. In today's sazyolu works, innovations such as the use of materials, coloring of paper and reinterpretation of motifs have been tried to be put forward as differences compared to that century. It is aimed that the leaf motif, which is an important part of the sazyolu style, will be a source of inspiration for many artists and academicians in the future by evaluating it from various angles.