Yeniçeri yagmasi or the Janissaries pay day, at the Babüssaada or Gate of Felicity
Watercolour
about 1809 (Painted)
about 1809 (Painted)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Janissaries running to collect their pay in Topkapi Saray was a ceremony used to demonstrate the number, power and speed of the elite troops to foreign visitors. Whoever was the first to bring back the purse of money to his officer received a small reward.
This picture was one of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning (later Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), 1786-1880. He began his long diplomatic career in Turkey as first secretary to Robert Adair on his mission to Istanbul in 1808. On arrival Canning soon arranged to see officially (and unofficially) all manner of Ottoman institutions, buildings and customs. What made his curiosity really valuable is that he hired a local artist to make this large series of views and studies of what he had seen. The identity of the artist is unknown, though Turkish scholars believe that he was part of the studio or circle of Konstantin Kapidagli. His style combines the dense and brilliant water and bodycolour used by Ottoman artists with European conventions of representation and perspective.
As a young man, the artist and future neo-classical architect Charles Cockerell went to Istanbul in 1810, stayed at the embassy, and even met Byron there. There Cockerell (with an interpreter) met and discussed painting technique with this Greek artist whom, frustratingly, he did not name in his letters. Cockerell's copies of the Greek's architectural views are now in the British Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum finally acquired the original set of drawings from Canning's daughter Charlotte in 1895
This picture was one of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning (later Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), 1786-1880. He began his long diplomatic career in Turkey as first secretary to Robert Adair on his mission to Istanbul in 1808. On arrival Canning soon arranged to see officially (and unofficially) all manner of Ottoman institutions, buildings and customs. What made his curiosity really valuable is that he hired a local artist to make this large series of views and studies of what he had seen. The identity of the artist is unknown, though Turkish scholars believe that he was part of the studio or circle of Konstantin Kapidagli. His style combines the dense and brilliant water and bodycolour used by Ottoman artists with European conventions of representation and perspective.
As a young man, the artist and future neo-classical architect Charles Cockerell went to Istanbul in 1810, stayed at the embassy, and even met Byron there. There Cockerell (with an interpreter) met and discussed painting technique with this Greek artist whom, frustratingly, he did not name in his letters. Cockerell's copies of the Greek's architectural views are now in the British Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum finally acquired the original set of drawings from Canning's daughter Charlotte in 1895
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Yeniçeri yagmasi or the Janissaries pay day, at the Babüssaada or Gate of Felicity (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Water- and bodycolour |
Brief description | Yeniçeri yagmasi or the Janissaries pay day, at the Babüssaada or Gate of Felicity, about 1809. Anonymous Greek artist |
Physical description | A large number of Janissaries running to collect purses set out on the ground, viewed from under a highly decorated arcade |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | Numbered 119 |
Object history | Originally the paintings in this series [D.23-150-1895] were bound in a volume. It was bought by the Museum in 1895 from `Miss Canning' [i.e. Charlotte Canning, daughter of Stratford Canning] for 10 Guineas. |
Subjects depicted | |
Place depicted | |
Literary reference | John Cam Hobhouse, A Journey through Albania...to Constantinople... 1809 and 1810, published 1813, Vol.II, pp.993-5 |
Summary | Janissaries running to collect their pay in Topkapi Saray was a ceremony used to demonstrate the number, power and speed of the elite troops to foreign visitors. Whoever was the first to bring back the purse of money to his officer received a small reward. This picture was one of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning (later Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), 1786-1880. He began his long diplomatic career in Turkey as first secretary to Robert Adair on his mission to Istanbul in 1808. On arrival Canning soon arranged to see officially (and unofficially) all manner of Ottoman institutions, buildings and customs. What made his curiosity really valuable is that he hired a local artist to make this large series of views and studies of what he had seen. The identity of the artist is unknown, though Turkish scholars believe that he was part of the studio or circle of Konstantin Kapidagli. His style combines the dense and brilliant water and bodycolour used by Ottoman artists with European conventions of representation and perspective. As a young man, the artist and future neo-classical architect Charles Cockerell went to Istanbul in 1810, stayed at the embassy, and even met Byron there. There Cockerell (with an interpreter) met and discussed painting technique with this Greek artist whom, frustratingly, he did not name in his letters. Cockerell's copies of the Greek's architectural views are now in the British Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum finally acquired the original set of drawings from Canning's daughter Charlotte in 1895 |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | D.143-1895 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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