Illustrated Manuscript of the Divan of Baki

This manuscript of the Divan of Baki is copied in nastaliq script on more than 70 folios with 17 lines and 2 columns per page. Baki (1526-1600) was an Ottoman poet and his Turkish divan (collected works) is composed of lyric odes (ghazals). The beginning of this manuscript seems to be missing as other copies of Baki’s divan include odes dedicated to Sultan Suleyman I, Selim II and Murad III, under whom the poet Baki flourished, as well as the leading dignitaries such as the grand vizier, or the seyhulislam. The manuscript contains seven paintings displaying a close text and image relationship. Most of the poems end with verses addressed to Baki himself. In four paintings, the poet Baki himself is depicted as an old man with an aquiline nose and gray beard wearing a large turban, most likely revealing his real life qualities. Illustrated folios: 6r: Baki compares himself to Farhad at carving stones of tribulation with his poetry 29v: Baki compares the stature of the youth to a cypress tree. 32r: Baki writes about dancing and pleasure. 42r: A man opens his chest to the arrows of a young man. 44v: Baki is served wine in a gathering in a garden. 47v: Two young men drink wine. 62: This folio is now loose and based on the catchwords and the text contained on it, it most likely belonged to the beginning of the manuscript. The painting depicts a historical event: The ten year old Safavid prince Haydar Mirza was sent to Istanbul from Qazvin in 1590 as a guarantor of peace between the Safavids and the Ottomans who had been at war since 1578. The poet Baki included an ode about this event to Murad III.