Ottoman miniature is linked to the Persian miniature tradition, as well as strong Chinese artistic influences. The words ''tasvir'' or ''nakış'' were used to define the art of miniature painting in Ottoman Turkish. The studios the artists worked in were called ''nakkaşhane''. The miniatures were usually not signed, perhaps because of the rejection of individualism, but also because the works were not created entirely by one person; the head painter designed the composition of the scene, and his apprentices drew the contours (which were called ''tahrir'') with black or colored ink and then painted the miniature without creating an illusion of depth. The head painter, and much more often the scribe of the text, were indeed named and depicted in some of the manuscripts. The understanding of perspective was different from that of the nearby European Renaissance painting tradition, and the scene depicted often included different time periods and spaces in one picture. They followed closely the context of the book they were included in, more illustrations than standalone works of art.