Shaykhi
Shaykhi, also Ustad Shaikhi Naqqash or Shaykhi (al-Yaʿqubi) ("Shaykhi of Yaqub"), was a painter of the late 15th century, active in Tabriz at the court of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Yaqub Beg. Initially recruited with Darvish Muhammad by the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Sultan Khalil, in order to create miniatures for the Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481). Sultan Khalil took the manuscript to the capital Tabriz when he inherited the throne in 1478, but he soon died the same year, assassinated by his brother Yaqub, as the manuscript was still unfinished.
Also recorded as Shaykhī
Shaykhi
Courtesy Special Collections, Harvard Fine Arts Library https: imageId=urn-3:FHCL:37873227 adaptor= · CC BY 4.0
- Nationality
- Aq Qoyunlu
- Occupation
- illuminator · illustrator · painter
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Shaykhi, also Ustad Shaikhi Naqqash or Shaykhi (al-Yaʿqubi) ("Shaykhi of Yaqub"), was a painter of the late 15th century, active in Tabriz at the court of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Yaqub Beg. Initially recruited with Darvish Muhammad by the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Sultan Khalil, in order to create miniatures for the Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481). Sultan Khalil took the manuscript to the capital Tabriz when he inherited the throne in 1478, but he soon died the same year, assassinated by his brother Yaqub, as the manuscript was still unfinished.
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Biography
Yaqub Beg then led the efforts to complete the manuscript, and especially the miniature program, with the two miniaturists Shaykhi and Darvish Muhammad. According to the colophon, he completed the manuscript in 1481. It is considered as "the supreme and ultimate fruit of his artistic patronage". The pictorial style has been qualified as having "ecstatic intensity". The miniatures created under Yaqub Beg are: folios 51 v, 69, 82v, 163v, 167, 171v, 177v, 180v, 183 and 187. One of the most famous miniatures added by Yaqub Beg is the Bahram Gur in the Green Pavilion, painted by the Herat artist Shaykhi. Compared to the balanced Herat style of Bihzad for example, this miniature style uses a much more intense color palette, with acid greens and vivid blues, and abundant vegetation that seems to engulf the protagonists. Also well-known for some Chinese-style paintings, to which he sometimes affixed his own signature, such as Two Young Women in Chinese Style Costume Seated on a Sofa or Nobles beneath a Blossoming Branch.
Places of work recorded in the authority are Tabriz. Work by Shaykhi is recorded in the collections of Topkapı Palace Museum.
Painting and calligraphies, Aqqoyunlu Turkmen, signed by Shaykhi, ca. 1480. Tabriz. Topkapı Palace Library, H.2153, fol. 146v, 50.8 x 33.8 cm
1480, Tabriz · Cross-Cultural Artistic Encounters in the Eastern Mediterranean p.155
Chinese style scene, Aqqoyunlu Turkmen, signed by Shaykhi, ca. 1480. Tabriz. Topkapı Palace Library, H.2153, fol. 146v
15th century artist · Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.BRILL. The Diez Albums: Contexts and Contents. 164. 14 November 2016. 978-90-04-32348-3.
- 2.Sakip Sabanci Müzesi. Three Capitals of Islamic Art. 165. 2008. 978-975-8362-80-6.
- 3.Robinson, B. W. Studies in Persian art, vol 2. Pindar Press. 48. 1993. 9780907132448.
- 4.Canby, Sheila R. The Golden Age of Persian Art: 1501-1722. British Museum Press. 34. 2002. 978-0-7141-2404-9.
- 5.Stchoukine, Ivan. Les peintures turcomanes et ṣafavies d'une Khamseh de Niẓâmî achevée à Tabrîz en 886/1481. Arts Asiatiques. 14. 1. 4. 1966. 10.3406/arasi.1966.955.
- 6.BRILL. The Diez Albums: Contexts and Contents. 164, 168. 14 November 2016. 978-90-04-32348-3.
- 7.BRILL. The Diez Albums: Contexts and Contents. 14 November 2016. 978-90-04-32348-3.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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