Mehmed Esad Yesari

Mehmed Esad Yesari (Modern Turkish: Mehmet Es'ad Yesârî) (died 1798) (alternative names: Asad Yasārī, Taliknüvis Mehmed al-Assad, Şeyhülislam Veliyüddin Efendi[citation needed]) was an 18th-century Ottoman calligrapher known as the greatest calligrapher of his age.

Mehmed Esad Yesari was born in Istanbul, the son of Kara Mahmud Aga, bailiff to the Grand Judge of Anatolia.

[2] He began his training with Seyhulislam Veliyyüddin Efendi (d. 1768), but was turned away due to his poor condition.

[3] He was a master of the ta'liq script who made improvements to it and created works of great beauty.

He also produced inscriptions such as for Sultan Mehmet II's tomb, the Haci Selim Aga Library in Uskudar, the Beylerbeyi Mosque and inside the Barracks of the Black Eunechs (inside the harem); all of which exhibit the finest examples of ta'liq script.