The tarh draws the bones
A senior draftsman ink-traces the procession in fine carbon line — Sultan central, attendants flanking, the camp behind. Composition is fixed before any colour touches the paper.
Lampblack outline · 0.4mm reedHow a court folio is made
Four hands, one folio
Serlevha · the head-piece
The tezhip lays the gold
Beaten gold-leaf is burnished onto the sky, the throne-canopy, and every cartouche frame. The ground is gilt before figures are painted — so jewel-tones read off metal, not paper.
Gold-leaf #D4AF37 · agate-burnishedThe renk seats the figures
Mineral pigments — cinnabar kaftans, Iznik cobalt sashes, malachite garden — are laid flat then layered. No shading: each robe is one saturated note inside a gilt outline.
Cinnabar · cobalt · malachiteThe hattat seals the page
A separate calligrapher writes the Nastaliq caption inside its cartouche — the folio is never finished by the painter alone. Two crafts, signed in sequence, bind the codex together.
Nastaliq script · reed-pen cartouche