Black is a former student of the miniaturist arts who returns to his hometown of Istanbul after a long absence working as a secretary and tax collector. He is observant and nostalgic, quickly noticing the creeping poverty and shifting religious tensions in the city. He harbors an enduring love for his cousin, Shekure, which motivates his involvement in his uncle's dangerous manuscript commission.

Shekure is a beautiful, highly intelligent twenty-four-year-old mother of two whose soldier husband has been missing in battle for four years. Because her husband's death is unproven, she is caught in legal limbo, unable to remarry but lacking formal protection. She possesses a pragmatic, calculating mind that she uses to survive the patriarchal confines of her society, prioritizing her children's safety above all else.

Enishte is Black's maternal uncle and Shekure's father. He is an art lover who was deeply influenced by a past ambassadorial trip to Venice, leading him to appreciate European portraiture styles. He oversees a secret book project commissioned by the Sultan, attempting to blend Eastern miniaturist traditions with controversial Western techniques despite the risk of being labeled heretical.

Master Osman is the elderly, conservative head of the Sultan's miniaturist workshop. He is fiercely dedicated to traditional Islamic painting methods and disdains the creeping influence of European portraiture, believing true art requires self-effacement before the Divine. He has trained a generation of painters through strict, often harsh methods.

Hasan is the brother of Shekure's missing husband. He attempts to assert patriarchal control over Shekure while her husband is presumed dead. His unwanted sexual advances and threatening behavior force Shekure to flee his home and seek refuge with her father.

Olive is a gifted miniaturist who trained under Master Osman in the Sultan's workshop. He contributes to the secret book project organized by Enishte. He outwardly presents himself as a follower of traditional Islamic beliefs about painting, spinning parables about the virtue of artistic blindness, though his personal artistic ambitions run incredibly deep.

Elegant is a gilder and miniaturist whose murder sets the mystery of the story in motion. From the afterlife, he expresses deep concern that his death is connected to a conspiracy against traditional Islamic beliefs. In life, he was an artist troubled by the potentially heretical nature of the work he was commissioned to do for Enishte's project.

Esther is a Jewish peddler and professional intermediary in Istanbul. Because she operates outside the strictures of the Muslim community, she moves freely between households, carrying messages, goods, and gossip. She takes pride in her matchmaking abilities and her skill at reading people's hidden desires.

Butterfly is widely considered the most talented of the remaining miniaturists in the workshop. He takes immense pleasure in the ecstatic process of creation and frequently speaks in elegant parables. He maintains a complex, fiercely loyal bond with his master, despite the harshness of his training.

Stork is an ambitious and pragmatic miniaturist at the workshop. He is drawn to scenes of battle and action, believing that artistic skill is the only true way to escape the ravages of time. He holds somewhat more progressive views on representation than his conservative peers and desires the position of head miniaturist.

Shevket is Shekure's older son. He is deeply affected by the prolonged absence of his father and often acts out aggressively. He shows a morbid interest in death and violence, frequently rebelling against his mother and demonstrating open hostility toward Black.

Orhan is Shekure's younger son. He is observant and sometimes fearful, quietly absorbing the adult conversations and conflicts happening around him in Enishte's house. He is generally more receptive to Black's presence than his older brother.

Hayriye is an enslaved servant woman working in Enishte's home. Having little to no agency over her life or body, she lives in constant fear and performs the household's labor while enduring a highly unequal power dynamic with the master of the house.

The ruler of the Ottoman Empire and a great patron of the arts. He desires a book that commemorates his reign using both Islamic traditions and Frankish portraiture, inadvertently sparking a deadly conflict over artistic philosophy.

The color red acts as a conceptual narrator in the novel. It represents passion, violence, and the vibrant life force of art, exploring its own meaning and its effect on the senses of both the seeing and the blind.

A drawn figure of a dog who takes on a narrating role. It defends its species against traditional religious prejudices, offering a pragmatic and observant commentary on the changing social fabric of Istanbul.

An illustration of a tree that expresses the traditional Islamic view of art. It prefers to represent the eternal idea of a tree rather than being rendered as an individual, realistic object, mourning its separation from a greater narrative.

A counterfeit Venetian coin circulating through Istanbul. It offers a cynical view of human greed and comments on the duality of authenticity and falseness as it passes from hand to hand.

An illustration of the grim reaper drawn for the secret book. It embodies the existential fear that drives much of the conflict among the miniaturists, appearing as a terrifying angel laden with spikes.

The drawn figure of the devil. He offers a philosophical defense of his existence, arguing that European-style individualistic art stems from human pride rather than demonic temptation.

An illustration of a horse that comments on the differences between Eastern and Western artistic representation. It argues that drawing realistically from human perspective is not inherently blasphemous, serving as a focal point for the stylistic debates in the workshop.