Ph.D. Program in History.Öztürkmen, Arzu, 1965- .Esenbel, Selçuk, 1946- .Perinçek Karavit, Kiraz.2025-04-142025-04-142023Ph.D. Program in History. TKL 2023 U68 PhD (Thes AD 2023 B78https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/handle/123456789/21774This dissertation aims to put a group of paintings back in their historical contexts, among which they had been mobile along the ancient Silk Roads. Known as Mehmed Siyah Kalem paintings, these unique works of art are found cut and pasted on various folios of two albums in Topkapı Palace Museum Library. The artistic style with Chinese impact, materials, and themes of nomadic life implicate a production environment at the intersection of Chinese and Central Asian Turkic realms in the fourteenth century. Although scholars assume their purpose is to illustrate recitations, they are deprived of their original format. Other works of art in the albums support their compilation in the Akkoyunlu court in Tabriz during the fifteenth century. Shreds of evidence strengthen their entry into the Ottoman court as spoils in Selim I’s reign (1512 -1520). Subject to photography projects stolen from the Ottoman palace library, some of them were smuggled to urban sites of Orientalism at the turn of the twentieth century. This dissertation contributes to the literature in solving the enigma of these paintings in three aspects: First is the abundant groundbreaking sources to enlighten various dark moments of the paintings’ mobility. Second is the analysis to reveal the links with Chinese artistic traditions and to substantiate the storytelling function in daily practices. The last and fundamental contribution of this study is the theoretical framework that presents these paintings as mobility elements with shifting local meanings and global implications, where through these perception changes, we can trace historical transformations.Mehmet Siyahkalem -- Criticism and interpretation.Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi. Kütüphane -- Catalogs.Painting -- Asia, Central.Silk Road -- History.xxxii, 571 leaves