Sheikh Sa’ban-i Veli was born in the Harmancık Neighborhood of Taşköprü District of Kastamonu. He first started to learn discipline in Taşköprü and then came to Kastamonu. There, he took the interpretation and hadith lessons from Hodja Veli (d. 918/1512), son of Osman, and got his approval. It is known that Sheikh Sa’ban-i Veli, who came to Istanbul to advance his discipline, stayed in the Black Sea Bas Kursunlu Madrasa around Fatih. He studied disciplines such as the Qur’an, interpretation, hadith, and fiqh for 9 years, and then turned to the discipline of Sufism. When Sa’ban-i Veli completed his madrasa education, he returned to Kastamonu from Istanbul after he was told in a dream that “go to your homeland”. Sheikh Sa’ban-i Veli Social Complex is one of the most important stations of Kastamonu, where many works of foundation civilization are located. The social complex, which was built by Seyyid Sunneti Efendi before 1490, consists of a mosque, tomb, wand water, dervish lodge houses, fountain, and graveyard. In the rooms of the mansion, personal belongings of Sheikh Sa’ban-i Veli, calligraphy works of the Halveti Sect, Qurans, Kastamonu oil lamps, and carpets and rugs from many regions of Anatolia are exhibited.

The historical mansion, located within the Seikh Sa’ban-i Veli Social Complex, serves as the Seikh Sa’ban-i Veli Foundation Museum, where various handicrafts and manuscripts are exhibited today. It was thought that this study would be important in examining the illumination features of the two Mushafs in this museum, preserving the works and revealing the illumination features, as well as transferring them to future generations. The Qur’an, which is one of the most important products of our traditional book arts, has artistic values according to the period they belong to in terms of book arts. In this respect, it will be tried to determine whether the decorations on the illumination pages of the Mushafs with the 259 and 275 fixture numbers reflect the illumination features of the 19th centuries by analyzing the period features and pattern compositions, motif, color, and style of the manuscripts in Kastamonu Seikh Sa’ban-i Veli Foundation Museum.

One of the nations that have reached the peak with the arts of book decoration in the world is undoubtedly the Turks. Starting from Central Asia, the Turks transferred their ornamental culture to Anatolia and successfully kept it alive for centuries. The traditional book arts, which developed with the Uyghur Turks in Central Asia, have experienced many changes and developments from the past to the present. The art of illumination, in which the artists reflect their national tastes, continued its progress and came to Anatolia via Iran with the Seljuks. Ottoman period Turkish decoration, especially from the second half of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century, is called the classical period and it is seen that excellent works were produced in this period. The first classical illumination examples of the Ottoman period were made during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. Due to his interest in art and the importance he gave to the book, a muralist was established in Topkapı Palace during the reign of Mehmet the Conqueror, and Baba Nakkaş of Uzbek origin was appointed as its head. In this period, with the Ehl-i Hiref-i Hassa Organization, which gathered the artists, studies were carried out to meet the needs of the palace and also acted as an art school.

Since the 15th century, artists brought from different geographies were employed in the Ottoman Palace and they worked with the existing artists in the palace to create new styles. The heading page illumination in the Fatih period Mushafs was made in the form of a rectangle, an oval, or a circle shape, depending on the size of the work, as well as two-sided or consecutive one-page. In the classical illumination Ottoman style, which reached its peak in the 16th century, the motifs were stylized and simplified. Stylized hatâis, rumi, and clouds gained splendor with the harmony of gold and dark blue. In this process, which started to be seen in our ornamental arts from the end of the 17th century and continued until the end of the 18th century, the motifs are no longer stylized. The 17th century was also the period when Ottoman art, especially book decorations, was at its most stagnant. There is no difference in the page layout and designs of the heading illumination in this century compared to the previous periods, except for the motifs and colors. In particular, the dark blue has lost its vitality and has turned into a pale dark blue. Despite the decline in the art of illumination, the 18th century was the brightest period of flower painting. From this century onwards, Western influence shows itself. The 18th-century headings continued the characteristics of the classical period in terms of the page layout.

The Ottoman Empire entered into a serious structural change under Westernization in the 19th century, and the art of illumination was also affected by this change. During this century, in the art of illumination, in addition to those who continued the classical motif and composition, the dual examples in which Western and classical elements were used were effective in those who had Western (rococo-baroque) motifs and new composition understanding. A style in which gold is used abundantly and flowers are embroidered on gold has been effective especially in headings. With the effect of westernization, there is a decline in the Ottoman ornaments and a decrease in the quality of the illuminations applied. Baroque and rococo motifs were used extensively in the decorations. In the heading illuminations of the Mushafs with fixture numbers 259 and 275, which are discussed in the article, for heading illuminations in which Western-based styles and forms are active, together with dual examples with Western and classical elements, it can be said that they reflect the 19th-century illumination understanding, far from the fine workmanship of the classical period.