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WORKSHOP OF GENTILE BELLINI, VENICE, CIRCA 1429-1507 Oil on panel 13 1/8 x 17 7/8 in. (33.4 x 45.4 cm.)
This remarkable painting is one of only three surviving contemporary, or near contemporary, depictions of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in oil and the last to remain in private hands. Furthermore, it is the only known portrait of the Sultan showing him with another figure. It documents the fascinating interaction between the East and West in the late-fifteenth century.
Mehmed II is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant figures in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Feared and respected in the Christian West, the ‘Grand Turk’ (as he was nicknamed) conquered Constantinople, the last bastion of the Byzantine (and thus historically Roman) Empire in 1453. This triumph caused alarm throughout Europe, which only increased as Mehmed continued to forcefully expand his Empire into former Byzantine territories in Greece and the Balkans, conquering lands as far west as Moldavia and Wallachia on the Danube. Aside from his ambitious expansion of Ottoman lands, Mehmed was known for his adept political knowledge and administrative talents. The Sultan founded an organised, regularised system of government, centralising his power and establishing relations between the feudal military nobility, the judiciary and the court. Mehmed promoted religious tolerance and fostered a burgeoning interest among Ottoman court circles in Latin, science and art. Despite the numerous tales spread concerning his cruel treatment of prisoners of war and his ruthless military ambition, the Sultan came to be perceived, in the West at least, as a typical ‘Renaissance’ prince.