An illuminated Qur'an, Persia, ⁠Safavid, 16th century

inscriptions

Seal impression of ‘Wali al-Din (Veliyuddin) Efendi son of the deceased al-Hajj Mustafa Agha son of the deceased al-Hajj Husayn Agha, the year 1175 (1761-62 AD)’

This Qur’an bears the seal impression of Ottoman scholar and calligrapher Veliyuddin Efendi (1684-1768). Velyuddin held successive positions as qadi of Aleppo, Galata, Cairo and Medina. By 1756, he had been appointed kazasker (chief judge) of Anatolia, before holding the same position in Rumelia in 1758. A petition later that year led to his dismissal and exile to Manisa but Velyuddin was soon pardoned at the request of Grand Vizier Ragib Pasha, and he was allowed to return to Istanbul, where he served two terms as Sheikh al-Islam. Velyuddin Efendi was a pupil of Durmuszade Ahmed Efendi and went on to master Ottoman taliq to such an extent that he became the calligraphy tutor to Sultan Mustafa III and Sultan Ahmed III. Renowned calligrapher Mehmed Esad Yesari is said to have applied to study under Veliyuddin, though his application was rejected and Veliyuddin later expressed his regret over this. Works by Veliyuddin Efendi are preserved in calligraphic albums (muraqqa’) in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul (inv. no. 2044), the Topkapi Palace Museum Library (Güzel Yazılar, inv. no. 220), and the Istanbul University Library (FY, inv. nos. 1225, 1425, 1428), see Ozcan 2013. 

The luxurious use of gold in the text of the frontispiece of this Qur’an can be related to manuscript production of the Herat school; see a Qur’an written entirely in gold sold in these rooms, 27 October 2021, lot 109. The notable use of black in the illumination framing the end of the text and the roundel verse markers are also indicative of an illuminator familiar with this style.