Drug Molecules Meet Turkish Art of Illumination

Last year, on November 18, I was invited to deliver a talk on “Pharmacy in Turkish Art” at the Philipps University Institute for the History of Pharmacy in Marburg, Germany. Since I have been involved for a long time with historical examples of pharmacy that are related to artistic works, during my preparation for this conference, I got the idea of leaving some other examples for future reference. “Why not create illuminations of drug molecules?” I pondered.

In fact, the Ottoman art of illumination, tezhip, which literally means “ornamenting with gold,” apparently, was the most convenient way to combine both “traditional culture” and “modern science” on pharmacy-based themes. This nearly five-century-old art which was characteristic of the Ottoman culture reached its summit during the 17th and the 18th centuries. Before the introduction of the printing press to Turkey in 1727, hand-written manuscripts were the only literary resources.

Bearing this in mind, I asked Mrs. Gulbun Mesara, a renowned Turkish illumination artist, and her team whether they would be willing to help me to apply this art to drug molecules such as acetylsalicylic acid, penicillin, caffeine, and paclitaxel. Although, initially, they were a bit confused at my request, they kindly helped me with this rather “weird” project which led to a series of unique paintings, each of which possesses a different traditional style.

Among the paintings, my favourite one is the one featuring caffeine, which includes the chemical structure of the molecule surrounded by leaves painted in traditional sazyolu style together with the reddish drupe-fruits and leaves of the coffee tree. Although this plant is named Coffea arabica, indicating its Arab origin, coffee became a very popular drink in the Ottoman Empire in the mid 16th century. It was later exported to Europe, where it became known as “Turkish coffee.” I like to look at this painting which, along with the others, is hung on a wall in my office, while I drink my Turkish coffee. It is a very pleasant experience for me as a pharmacist.

I believe that pharmacy-related artistic works, besides the aesthetic values they possess, have great importance in terms of presenting pharmaceutical culture and strengthening our professional identity in the eye of society.

Halil Tekiner, MSc Pharm, BSc
February 4, 2010, Kayseri