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With the conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, the chain of transmission extended to the administrative and cultural center of the Ottoman Empire. There, a succession of master calligraphers reshaped and revitalized their singular art. The most prominent calligraphers functioned as both artists and professional teachers who were often attached to or sponsored by the court. As artists, they gracefully copied manuscripts of the Qur'an and created magnificent large-scale, boldly rhythmic compositions that also served as models for inscriptions on the great Ottoman mosques and other public buildings. As teachers, they trained new generations of calligraphers, including the Ottoman sultans and princes. In 1928, five years after the fall of the Ottoman sultanate and the establishment of the modern, secular Turkish Republic, Arabic script was replaced by a modified version of the Latin alphabet. Although this change brought to an end the classical method of writing as a form of communication, a small group of artists managed to keep calligraphy alive as an art. Thus today, in Istanbul, a handful of calligraphers still practice and train students and the long history of transmission continues.
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