Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red brings up a fascinating conflict between the traditional Eastern illumination style and the European style that so disturbs the miniaturists. I find the concern for idolatry fascinating; it extends to the point where developing one’s own style is seen as being too prideful. The miniaturists are so concerned about deviating from the old masters that they are constantly tormented by their work. Enishte Effendi outlined how miniaturists go about their work consumed by guilt for fear that they are committing sin and stepping on Allah’s toes as creators. Meanwhile, there seems to be hardly a hint of such concerns in the western illuminated manuscripts given that such manuscripts were generally created by monks. Effendi’s fascination with the venetian masters seems to be where Orhan Pamuk tries to outline his commentary on the two styles.
The eastern style portrays a scene in a top down perspective, in a way, displaying everything in a scene at once. There are no shadows and all the figures tend to have the same faces. What disturbs the traditional miniaturists and even Effendi about the western style is that it renders each figure distinctly and unique. Each individual is unique and each artist seeks to distinguish himself by creating his own style. Some argue that this rendering of the individual as unique and special is arrogant, tantamount to idolatry or worship of the self. There’s an argument to be made for those rich men that commission portraits of themselves, but Pamuk presents it as not being such a terrible thing. It is not an awful thing to wish to distinguish oneself. In fact he seems to suggest that the reason the old masters are so scared of the venetian style is because they fear it will become more popular and attractive to people than the traditional styles because of its lifelike depictions. Pamuk doesn’t necessarily reject tradition, but he doesn’t believe it should stop people from embracing new things.
The chapter I Am Red has also set me to thinking about the implications of color and I am currently trying to decide which ones I will want to employ on Monday…
I’m curious if you prefer one style to the other? Do you like the way the eastern style carries your eye, or the idea of uniqueness in the faces in the western style? I think both are fascinating, and I want to see more. I like your point about the traditional miniaturists being disturbed and determined to avoid the western style and stay connected to the old masters, so much that they are tormented by their work. The work of the illuminators seems so complex in this book, and I agree that the conflict between the styles is fascinating.