Artwork
Main road between Silivri and Çorlu
Main road between Silivri and Çorlu is a drawing by the Romanticist artist Luigi Mayer. It dates from 1794 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The drawing records the principal road linking the Ottoman towns of Silivri and Çorlu, situated on the historic corridor between Adrianople (Edirne) and Constantinople. Executed in 1794, the work belongs to a series of thirty‑two similar sketches documenting the route.
Subject & Meaning
The image captures a dusty thoroughfare traversed by a horse‑drawn carriage carrying two passengers, with a third figure guiding the animal. Flanking the road, two individuals stand on high poles, each bearing a flag, suggesting a ceremonial or military presence along the otherwise barren landscape.
Technique & Style
Rendered with rapid, sketchy strokes, the artist employs cross‑hatching to suggest shading and depth, emphasizing the play of light on the road surface and the movement of the carriage. The overall effect is a fleeting impression of a moment in transit.
History & Provenance
The drawing likely stems from the return journey of Ainslie and his party from Constantinople to England. A related sketch dated 4 July 1794 resides in a private London collection. This particular piece entered the market through Phillips auction house in September 1975.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Luigi Mayer (1755–1803) was an Italian-German artist and one of the earliest and most important late 18th-century European painters of the Ottoman Empire.
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