Jean-Baptiste Vanmour (Valenciennes 1671-1737 Constantinople)


Study of a young lady in Ottoman dress in an interior oil on canvas40.6 x 29.2cm (16 x 11 1/2in).
|Dr. Olga Nefedova believes the present painting to be a late work by the artist and has drawn comparison with a drawing in the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, dating to 1727; it shows a woman in similar contrapposto stance with one arm extended, in mirror image of the present composition. Vanmour travelled to Constantinople as a result of his association with Charles, Marquis de Ferriol. Ferriol was appointed French ambassador to the Sublime Porte in 1699 and asked Vanmour to accompany him to record the locals. The resulting costume studies were published by Ferriol as engravings when he returned to France in 1711 under the title of Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant. The present work may show a European: a number of travellers had themselves portrayed in Ottoman dress as a souvenir of their time in the Levant.