Bayezid II
This replica from the 16th century exhibited in your room is of one of the 87 talismanic shirts from the Collection of Sultan’s Clothing at Topkapi Palace and it is considered to have belonged to Bayezid II according to the prayers, motives and meanings of the talisman on the shirt and therefore was adorned with one of his poems…
May this talisman protect you from the evil; make your love forever…
When he was still young, Bayezid fell in love with the daughter of a chieftain but he wanted to win her heart without using his name as the son of the Sultan. But it was rather hard; she was not only an example of beauty but also a royal one… However, the young son of Sultan managed to win the heart of the daughter. When she learnt that Bayezid was the son of the Sultan, she wanted to move away from this love thinking she was being deceived. Bayezid, wrote her a letter saying "Love me only for what I am." and he, in modern days’ words, told her as follows;
"You are such wonderful woman; your beauty and charm is extraordinary. There is no such other woman with a shining face like yours. There is no match on this earth for such beauty that make hearts melt" These verses bring his love back to him; his love with this woman with the moonlike face lasted for years and years…
This talismanic shirt from the 16 century carrying all the artistic features of its time was a gift for Bayezid from his precious love; with the hopes of an everlasting love and protection for her Sultan…
This shirt made of thin white cotton is one of the best examples of talismanic shirts. It is not wrong to call it a mirror of its owner’s artistic personality. The shirt with a deep front slip, stand-up collar and short sleeves resembles an open book with its design and ornament. The intense use of colour gold makes it different from other shirts. On the front of the shirt, there are two opposing circles placed in two opposing squares on gold base with a text block below them and two diamonds patterns at the bottom. A wide line borders this main composition. Ornaments of these parts resemble those of book illuminations. Ornaments are finished with prayers and Surahs.
The back of the shirt is designed similar to the front side. There is a big square in which a big diamond pattern and in these big patterns are there small squares. There are al fatiha, al ikhlas and al fath surahs on this shirt like on many other talismanic shirts. Naturally, it is seen that the empty areas are engraved with prayers. One of the most important features of this shirt is that on the side of the composition on the back, the purpose of the making of this shirt is written from which we, today, know that this shirt was made to prevent the owner from evil and disasters.
Sultan Bayezid owned more than one talismanic shirt. Rumour has it that out of respect for art, Bayezid II had never worn this such work of art; he, instead, scrupulously took care of it. He also did not forget to generously award those who made this work…
