"My Name is Red is a novel based on classical Persian and Ottoman miniatures, The novel is full of loving descriptions of real historical miniatures. Most of them are preserved at the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. We are presenting some of them with the permission of the museum and its director, Filiz Cagman in order to illustrate the novel itself and to give you a sense of the scope and beauty of this art from the Islamic past. I have included with each image either commentary or a related passage from the novel." --Orhan Pamuk

Click on an detail below to view the entire illustration and read Orhan Pamuk's accompanying text. All images can be found in the book The Topkapi Saray Museum: The Albums and Illustrated Manuscripts. Images reprinted with the written permission of the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul.