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Lot Essay
Haseki Sultan
The ‘Rossa Imperiatrix Turcarum’ medallion in the top-left corner, identifies the subject of our portrait as Hurrem Sultan, the wife of Sulayman the Magnificent (1494-1566). ‘Rossa’ alludes to her European heritage, as she was taken from her native Ruthenia at childhood and later presented to Sulayman as a slave concubine. She eventually became Haseki Sultan, chief consort and Sulayman’s favourite, who broke tradition by freeing and then marrying her as his Empress. Although gossip among both the Ottomans and Europeans asserted that she had bewitched the Sultan, her influence over him established her as one of the most powerful women of her age. Indeed, she was most notoriously known for her complicity in a plot that promoted her own son at the expense of Sulayman’s oldest, a son by another concubine.
Roxelana
The legend of ‘La Sultana Rossa’ or Roxelana, as she is better known in the West, and the harem which she was part of, enjoyed widespread attention in Europe. The fascination with the harem, commonly referred to as the Seraglio by European writers, was largely due to its inaccessibly, forbidden and exotic nature and thus any descriptions or indeed visual representations of the harem were largely an exercise in fantasy. This portrait depicts Roxelana in the Venetian tradition, with the Renaissance ideals of beauty: pale white skin, full lips, and thin eyebrows. The layered, elaborate costume and turban-like headdress, however, distinctly identify her as ‘other’. It is interesting to note that her lavish overcoat evokes the rich trade of luxury textiles and velvets that were traded between the Ottoman courts and Venetian merchants at this time. Portraits of ‘La Sultana Rossa’ were largely disseminated by Italian and Northern European artists, dating to the 1530s and 1540s: for example a woodcut portrait by Sebald Beham and an anonymous work published by Matteo Pagani (ca.1540) (see H. Madar, 'Before the Odalisque: Renaissance Representations of Elite Ottoman Women', Early Modern Women, vol. 6, 2011, pp.12-13). The headdresses in these prints, much like in this painting, are largely imaginative and are likely to have been an attempt to feminize the Ottoman turban. The elaborate jewel at the front of Hurrem Sultan’s headdress, however, is possibly an aigrette, a type of ornament worn by women of the harem that could be put on headgear. This painting, is one of a number of imagined portraits of sultanas that began to appear in the mid-sixteenth century, showing women of the harem as individuals of wealth and political status, although from an imagined and somewhat idealised Western perspective (Madar, op.cit, p.10.)
Mistaken identities
This and other possible depictions of Roxelana may ultimately derive from a lost portrait by Titian, who Vasari records as having also painted portraits of Sulayman and their daughter, Mihrimah Sultan, also known as Cameria (1522-1578). This may have contributed to a longstanding confusion relating to Roxelana’s identity: Images of her have been confused with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Caterina Cornaro Queen of Cyprus, and even her own daughter, Cameria. In a recent article, Julian Raby demonstrates that a portrait in the Uffizi associated with Titian’s workshop and traditionally labelled Caterina Cornaro is in fact a portrait of Hurrem Sultan (see J. Raby, 'Mistaken Identities', Cornucopia , issue 63, 2021). A similar case could potentially be made for a painting of Cameria at the Courtauld Gallery, London (inv.no.331), which shares many similarities with our portrait of Hurrem Sultan.
Other versions of the paintings of Roxelana and Mihrimah are found at the Pera Museum, Istanbul (inv.no.102) and Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (inv.no.996348). Similar paintings were sold in these rooms, 31st March 2022, lot 118 and Sotheby’s, London, 27 October 2021, lot 168 whilst a full body portrait was sold by Sotheby’s, London, 10 June 2020, lot 216.
The ‘Rossa Imperiatrix Turcarum’ medallion in the top-left corner, identifies the subject of our portrait as Hurrem Sultan, the wife of Sulayman the Magnificent (1494-1566). ‘Rossa’ alludes to her European heritage, as she was taken from her native Ruthenia at childhood and later presented to Sulayman as a slave concubine. She eventually became Haseki Sultan, chief consort and Sulayman’s favourite, who broke tradition by freeing and then marrying her as his Empress. Although gossip among both the Ottomans and Europeans asserted that she had bewitched the Sultan, her influence over him established her as one of the most powerful women of her age. Indeed, she was most notoriously known for her complicity in a plot that promoted her own son at the expense of Sulayman’s oldest, a son by another concubine.
Roxelana
The legend of ‘La Sultana Rossa’ or Roxelana, as she is better known in the West, and the harem which she was part of, enjoyed widespread attention in Europe. The fascination with the harem, commonly referred to as the Seraglio by European writers, was largely due to its inaccessibly, forbidden and exotic nature and thus any descriptions or indeed visual representations of the harem were largely an exercise in fantasy. This portrait depicts Roxelana in the Venetian tradition, with the Renaissance ideals of beauty: pale white skin, full lips, and thin eyebrows. The layered, elaborate costume and turban-like headdress, however, distinctly identify her as ‘other’. It is interesting to note that her lavish overcoat evokes the rich trade of luxury textiles and velvets that were traded between the Ottoman courts and Venetian merchants at this time. Portraits of ‘La Sultana Rossa’ were largely disseminated by Italian and Northern European artists, dating to the 1530s and 1540s: for example a woodcut portrait by Sebald Beham and an anonymous work published by Matteo Pagani (ca.1540) (see H. Madar, 'Before the Odalisque: Renaissance Representations of Elite Ottoman Women', Early Modern Women, vol. 6, 2011, pp.12-13). The headdresses in these prints, much like in this painting, are largely imaginative and are likely to have been an attempt to feminize the Ottoman turban. The elaborate jewel at the front of Hurrem Sultan’s headdress, however, is possibly an aigrette, a type of ornament worn by women of the harem that could be put on headgear. This painting, is one of a number of imagined portraits of sultanas that began to appear in the mid-sixteenth century, showing women of the harem as individuals of wealth and political status, although from an imagined and somewhat idealised Western perspective (Madar, op.cit, p.10.)
Mistaken identities
This and other possible depictions of Roxelana may ultimately derive from a lost portrait by Titian, who Vasari records as having also painted portraits of Sulayman and their daughter, Mihrimah Sultan, also known as Cameria (1522-1578). This may have contributed to a longstanding confusion relating to Roxelana’s identity: Images of her have been confused with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Caterina Cornaro Queen of Cyprus, and even her own daughter, Cameria. In a recent article, Julian Raby demonstrates that a portrait in the Uffizi associated with Titian’s workshop and traditionally labelled Caterina Cornaro is in fact a portrait of Hurrem Sultan (see J. Raby, 'Mistaken Identities', Cornucopia , issue 63, 2021). A similar case could potentially be made for a painting of Cameria at the Courtauld Gallery, London (inv.no.331), which shares many similarities with our portrait of Hurrem Sultan.
Other versions of the paintings of Roxelana and Mihrimah are found at the Pera Museum, Istanbul (inv.no.102) and Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (inv.no.996348). Similar paintings were sold in these rooms, 31st March 2022, lot 118 and Sotheby’s, London, 27 October 2021, lot 168 whilst a full body portrait was sold by Sotheby’s, London, 10 June 2020, lot 216.