Tue 16 June 2020:
The painting is one of the three surviving portraits of Mehmed II. The others are part of the London National Gallery’s permanent collection.
The portrait of Mehmed the Conqueror, the most influential sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was made by Italian painter Gentile Bellini in 1480.
A portrait of Sultan Mehmed II that is thought to be painted in Italian artist Gentile Bellini is shown by head of Islamic and Indian art department Sara Plumbly at auction house Christie’s in London, England on June 16, 2020.
The portrait which is evaluated between 500.000 and 740.000 dollars will be sold in an auction on June 25.
Mehmed the Conqueror, known for his interest in the Renaissance period, invited Italian painter Gentile Bellini (1429-1507) to Istanbul in 1479 and asked him to paint portraits of various people in the palace to be sure of Bellini’s talent before allowing him to paint his portrait.
The date Nov. 25, 1480, is written in Latin in the lower right corner of the painting of Mehmed the Conqueror, It is considered one of the most important works by Venetian painter Bellini, who stayed in Istanbul until 1481.
Photojournalist İlyas Tayfun Salcı -Anadolu agency
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
