22nd January - 12 April 2005

The Art Detective’s Guide is a fun worksheet for younger visitors. It is available from Reception and the entrance to the exhibition. Each Art Detective’s Guide includes some or all of the following activities:

Your chance to be on the Royal Academy of Arts website
Come into the gallery and pick up a copy of the Art Detective’s Guide. Go around the show and complete the activities and then hand it in during your visit or post it to:

Sarah Knowler
Royal Academy of Arts
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BD

Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600—1600

Young visitors were asked to find the Talismanic shirt of Cem Sultan, which is on show in gallery eight.

A talisman is something that brings good luck and wards off evil. The royal person would often wear a garment that was decorated with text and numbers to protect him from injury or death during hunting or battle. The numbers and letters were a special code designed to protect the wearer.

Young visitors to Turks have been designing their own lucky shirts. Click their names below to see their designs.

Alex, aged 9
Asha, aged 4
Colette, aged 8 1/2
Edward, aged 8
Eik, aged 8
Ella, aged 8
Iman, aged 7
Lucy, aged 10
Mohana, aged 7
Zak, aged 3
Leon, aged 6

Talismanic shirt of Cem Sultan, mid-sixteenth century, Istanbul, Turkey. Cotton, paint, gold and ink. Topkapι Sarayι Müzesi, Istanbul. Photo Hadiye Cangökçe.

Talismanic shirt of Cem Sultan

TURKS: Journey of a Thousand Years, 600 - 1600