Classification of Anatolian Bellini (Keyhole) Carpets based on Morphology and Matching of Geometrical Principles and Color Scheme in their Design

One of the best known Anatolian carpets is the Bellini design which is known by this name due to recurring drawings of Gentile Bellini, founder of the Venice School. Inside Anatolia, these carpets are known as keyhole carpets because the main form of their motifs is like a keyhole. The most important reasons for research about one of the best known motifs and designs of Anatolian carpets are lack of familiarity with the designs and schemes of Anatolian carpet, lack of scientific research and expertise on them in Iran and misunderstandings observed in many academic subjects in the field of pattern matching and influence of Iranian carpets on their designs. The aim of this study is to classify Bellini carpets (keyhole) based on their shape and form and also to check the matching of geometrical principles in design and color scheme of this kind of Anatolian carpets. To do this, 19 samples of the most original Bellini carpets, all belong to the second half of the 15th century until the 17th century, were selected in this article, which were all displayed in the 11th Conference of ICOC (International Conference on Oriental Carpets) held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2007. In addition to the morphology and classification of design and scheme of selected carpets and motif of keyhole, the golden size, the numeral ratio of edge and content and chromatic ratio (cool-warm and dark-light) were checked in Bellini carpets. It was revealed that Bellini designs can be classified into three groups: bilateral Mehrabi, independent or continuous medallion and battalion. Moreover, keyhole motif is mostly geometrical and it can also be simple, crotchety or patterned. In designing the backgrounds of these carpets golden proportions were used and the most important parameter is the ratio of cold and warm colors with respect to the ratio of dark and light areas.