Calligraphist (B. 1642, Istanbul – D. 1698, Istanbul). His father was Ali Efendi, the muezzin of Haseki Sultan Mosque. He was known as Hâfız Osman, since he memorized Koran at a young age. He started to be interested in calligraphy during his education and training in Köprülü Fâzıl Mustafa Paşa’s office. He took lessons from famous calligraphists of the time such as Derviş Ali, Suyolcuzâde Mustafa Eyyubi and Nefeszâde İsmail Efendi. In his youth, Hâfız Osman used Derviş Ali’s calligraphic style. Then he became a student of Nefeszâde Seyyid İsmâil Efendi, who knew the most about Şeyh Hamdullah’s style, which he was pursuing to learn.

He started to work on Şeyh Hamdullah’s works. He tried to imitate his Koran, which was kept in the Palace, and managed to gain skills. He went to Egypt (1672), to Hejaz for pilgrimage (1677), and to Edirne and Bursa several times. In 1695, he was appointed as the calligraphy teacher of Sultan Mustafa II. He also taught Ahmed III during his lineage. Meanwhile, he developed interest in Sufism, he joined the Sûnbüliye order, improved on Şeyh Hamdullah’s style which he adopted when he was young, and he developed a unique style especially for one-third and naskh calligraphy.

Hâfız Burhan continuously produced during his forty years active art life, and twenty five Korans, many pieces of Koran, stanzas, drafts and collages he produced are kept by various museums, libraries and private collections. He is also known to have produced the first ornamented plate using one-third and naskh calligraphy. Yedikuleli Seyit Abdullah, Ambarizade Derviş Ali, Ahmed III, Hasan Üsküdari, Bursalı Mehmet, Yusuf Mecdi, Yusuf-ı Ru­mi and Derviş Mehmet Kevkeb can be mentioned among his famous students.

REFERENCE: Habîb / Hat ve Hattâtân (s. 121-123, 1305), İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları (1946), Kemâl Çığ / Hattat Hâfız Osman (1949), A. Süheyl Ünver / Hattat Hâfız Os­man ve Yazdığı Kur'an-ı Kerîmler (s. 5-9, 1967), M. Uğur Derman / Türk Hat Sanatının Şaheserleri (1982) - Kendi İzahlarıyla Hâfız Osman'ın Mushafları (Sa­nat Dünyamız, s. 10-15, 1982) - İslâm Kültür Mirasında Hat Sanatı (s. 199-201, 1992) - TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi ( c. 15, s. 98-99-100, 1997), Şevket Rado / Türk Hattatları (s. 109-116, 1984), Büyük Larousse (c. 8, s. 4930, 1986), Ali Alparslan / Ünlü Türk Hattatları (s. 64-81, 1992), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).  

Hafız Osman, calligraphy sample

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