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Portrait of Sultan Mahmud II enthroned

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Orientalism Romanticism Early 19th Century Portrait

Dominant colour

Portrait of Sultan Mahmud II enthroned is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Anonymous Greek artist
When & what style?: 1809 · Orientalism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

The story of this work

Overview

A Greek artist in the circle of Konstantin Kapidagli depicted Sultan Mahmud II seated on an ornate throne beneath a fringed canopy, with two of the sultan’s imperial turbans displayed on stands within a niche to the right. The work, part of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic mission to Istanbul, blends Ottoman watercolor techniques with European perspective and representation. Originally bound in a volume, the drawings were acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1895 from Canning’s daughter, Charlotte.

Read the full account in the museum source.