PORTRAIT OF ROXELANA (HURREM SULTAN, D. 1558), WIFE OF SULTAN SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT (R. 1520-1566)

Project Details

PORTRAIT OF ROXELANA (HURREM SULTAN, D. 1558), WIFE OF SULTAN SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT (R. 1520-1566)

17th Century

Venetian School

Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 99 x 83 cm. (With Frame)

This is a rare portrait of one of the most powerful women of the 16th century, Hurrem Sultan, the wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566). Hurrem has European heritage, as she was taken from her native Ruthenia at childhood and later presented to Suleyman as a concubine. She eventually became Haseki Sultan (chief consort) and Suleyman’s favourite. Suleyman broke tradition by freeing and then marrying her as his Empress.

The legend of ‘La Sultana Rossa’ or Roxelana, as she is better known in the West, and the harem which she ruled, enjoyed widespread attention in Europe. The fascination with the harem, commonly referred to as the Seraglio by European writers, was largely due to its inaccessibility, making any descriptions or depictions of the harem 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 an ‘Ottoman sultana’. Her lavish dress evokes the rich trade of luxury textiles and velvets that were purchased by the Ottoman court from 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. An article by Dr Julian Raby (“Mistaken Identities”, Cornucopia, issue 63, 2021, pp. 8-13) documents the evolution of the portraits of Roxelana in Europe. He demonstrates that a portrait in the Uffizi associated with Titian’s workshop and traditionally labelled Caterina Cornaro is in fact a portrait of Roxelana, as it was modelled on a printed portrait from the 1540s in which the Venetian print-maker Matteo Pagani has clearly identified her as “La Rossa”. The present portrait proves that Roxelana was revered and regarded as one of the leading female figures of 16th century Europe.

Her headdress decorated with large pearls resembles a crown and is related to Süleyman’s tiara which was purchased from the famous Venetian goldsmith family, Caorlinis, in 1532, similarly decorated with pearls.. Please see the exhibition catalogue catalogue: The Sultan’s Portrait: Picturing the House of Osman, catalogue of the exhibition held at the Topkapı Palace Museum between 6 June and 6 September 2000, by Serpil Bağcı, Filiz Çağman, Julian Raby, Jürg Meyer zur Capellen, Hans Georg Majer, Jürg Meyer zur Capellen, Gülru Necipoğlu, Banu Mahir, Gül İrepoğlu, Günsel Renda, Istanbul, Türkiye İş Bankası, Publishing no: 464, Art Series: 65, 2000, p. 113. For the woodcut print depicting Suleyman’s tiara in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, also see, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/338723

The present portrait underlines the fact that Roxelana was no ordinary favourite from the imperial Ottoman Harem but a free woman who married Süleyman and became the Queen. Her stately, dignified posture and calm gaze fixed at the viewer complete the ideal vision of the ‘Sultana’ of the Ottoman Empire.

Categories: Orientalist Paintings

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PORTRAIT OF ROXELANA (HURREM SULTAN, D. 1558), WIFE OF SULTAN SULEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT (R. 1520-1566)

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