Abdulcelil Levni or Abdulcelil Çelebi (died 1732) was an Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 court painter and miniaturist.

Biography

He was born in Edirne

Edirne

Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

, some time in the late 17th century. He became the most prominent painter in the Ottoman Empire, and was appointed court painter

Court painter

A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...

 under Sultans Mustafa II

Mustafa II

Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703.-Life:...

 and Ahmed III

Ahmed III

Ahmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV . His mother was Mâh-Pâre Ummatullah Râbi'a Gül-Nûş Valide Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hajioglupazari, in Dobruja...

. He was a noted figure of the Tulip period. He died in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

.

As court painter he executed his marvelously composed masterpieces: the Surname-i Sultan Ahmed Han and the Surname-i Vehbi ("Book of Festival"). The latter book, still in the library of the Topkapı Palace

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....

, depicts the festivals commemorating the circumcision

Circumcision

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....

in 1720 of four sons of Ahmed III, However Levni's main concern seems to have been to paint single-leaved miniatures depicting individuals: beautiful girls, languidly reclining ladies, and charming young men. The faces of his figures show little expression.

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