Mehmet Aga Salam

Louis Dupré

1819

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century Portrait

About this work

This sketch shows a bearded man in a long robe and turban, sitting on a low wall. He holds a small object in one hand and rests his other arm on his knee. Behind him, a hook with a coiled hose and a glass bottle sit on the ground. The background is plain, with faint outlines of a building. The artist used quick, loose strokes to capture his face and clothes, leaving some areas sketchy. The man’s relaxed pose and simple setting feel more like a study than a finished portrait. Look up Dupré, Louis to see how he blended travel sketches with Romanticism.