Gouache and shell gold form an Ottoman-style shamsa (sun-roundel): a red six-petal star radiates through blue arabesque vines, all ringed by burnished gold bands and a scalloped floral cartouche. Three white sparrows circle the centre, their wings lifting off the page and softening the strict illumination. The piece adapts 16th-century Istanbul manuscript ornament—known as tezhip—into a lively, modern miniature.