Derviş Ali ( Modern Turkish: Derviş Ali) (d. 1673) was a 17th-century Ottoman calligrapher.
Life and work His is known as Derviş Ali, the elder or by the nicknames Büyük, Birinci or ayırt Mâruf (to distinguish him from the two different calligraphers of the same name, who lived at a later time).Islam Encyclopedia, Online:
Very little is known about his early life. His date of birth is unknown. He was raised as a slave in the household of a Janissary officer by the name of Kara Hasan-oglu Huseyn Aga. As a young man, he served as a subaltern with the Janissaries. He later trained as a calligrapher with Halid Erzurumi (d. 1651).Bayani, M., The Decorated Word: Qurʼans of the 17th to 19th Centuries, Volume 4, Part 1, Nour Foundation, 1999, p. 77
He worked in the Köprülü Library, where he trained many calligraphers, of whom the most famous were the Grand Vizier, Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha,Bayani, M., The Decorated Word: Qurʼans of the 17th to 19th Centuries, Volume 4, Part 1, Nour Foundation, 1999, p. 77 Hâfiz OsmanSuarez, M.F. and Woudhuysen, H.R. (eds), The Oxford companion to the Book, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, p. 776 and Suyolcuzade Mustafa EyyubiPickthall, M.W. and Asad, M. (eds), Islamic Culture, Volume 57, Islamic Culture Board, 1983, p.20; M. Uğur Derman, Masterpieces of Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, İstanbul, Sabancı Üniversitesi. pp. 82–83 Another of his students was Ismail Efendi, who executed the tomb of Hâfiz Osman and also produced 44 copies of the Q'ran.Roper, G. (ed.), The History of the Book in the Middle East, Routledge, 2017, [e-book edition], n.p.
He died at an advanced age in 1673, and was buried outside Topkapı (ancient gate of Saint-Romain).Turkish Biographical Index, Walter de Gruyter, 2011, p. 286; Huart, C., Les Calligraphes et les Miniaturistes de l'Orient Musulman, 1972, p. 146 Digital copy (in French)
See also Culture of the Ottoman Empire Hafiz Osman Islamic calligraphy List of Ottoman calligraphers Ottoman art
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