Artwork
Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat Ĭbrahim Pasa
Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat Ĭbrahim Pasa is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Jean Baptiste Vanmour. It dates from 1728 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Created in 1728, this oil portrait presents Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha, a senior Ottoman statesman, in a formal pose.
About this work
Technique & Style
Vanmour employed oil paint as his medium, applying it to a woven canvas support typical of early‑eighteenth‑century portraiture.
The work is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 33.5 cm in height and 26 cm in width. Vanmour employed oil paint as his medium, applying it to a woven canvas support typical of early‑eighteenth‑century portraiture. As a portrait, the painting presents Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha in a formal, frontal pose, emphasizing likeness and attire rather than narrative or dramatic elements.
No specific details about the artist’s handling, surface condition, or broader stylistic influences are provided in the sources.
History & Provenance
The portrait of Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha was commissioned as a likeness of the Ottoman statesman and painted in 1728 by Jean Baptiste Vanmour. It entered the collection of Cornelis Calkoen and subsequently passed to his brother Nicolaas Calkoen before being acquired by the Rijksmuseum, where it remains on display. The work was created using oil paint on canvas, measures 33.5 centimeters in height and 26 centimeters in width, and is classified as a portrait from the early 18th century.
The portrait of Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat Ĭbrahim Pasa painted by Jean Baptiste Vanmour in 1728 is housed in the Rijksmuseum, where it is listed under inventory number SK-A-1565. The work entered the collection via the Directie van de Levantse handel en de Navigatie op de Middellandse Zee and the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, both part of the museum's broader holdings of Dutch colonial and artistic artifacts. It was first exhibited publicly as part of a Vanmour retrospective at the Rijksmuseum in 1985 and subsequently featured in the 1998 exhibition "Ottoman Portraits in European Collections," also held at the Rijksmuseum.
Overview
Created in 1728, this oil portrait presents Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha, a senior Ottoman statesman, in a formal pose. The figure stands before a plain red backdrop, dressed in a white robe edged with black fur and a tall white hat, his left hand holding a dark cloth and his right hand placed on his hip.
Subject & Meaning
The work records the appearance and status of Ibrahim Pasha, who served as grand vizier during the early 18th‑century Tulip Era. By emphasizing his luxurious garments and dignified stance, the portrait conveys the authority and prestige associated with the highest office in the Ottoman administration.
Context
The portrait belongs to a series of works Vanmour created during the reign of Sultan Ahmed III, a period marked by cultural flourishing and diplomatic exchange between Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Such images served both as personal commemorations for Ottoman elites and as visual information for European audiences interested in the empire’s elite.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean Baptiste Vanmour or Van Mour (9 January 1671 – 22 January 1737) was a Flemish-French painter, remembered for his detailed portrayal of life in the Ottoman Empire during the Tulip Era and the rule of Sultan Ahmed III.
