Mahomet der III. dieses Nammens vnd fünffzehende Türckische Keyser (The Thirteen Turkish Emperor Mehmed III)

Description

This woodcut portrait is one of the first portraits of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed III in early modern Europe, as its title clearly indicates: "Mahomet der III. dieses Nammens und fünffzehende Türckische Keyser" (Mehmed III of this name and the fifteenth of the Turkish emperors). The rapid proliferation of Ottoman sultan portraits in Europe between 1520 and 1560 was related both to the demand by engravers for books on Turkish subjects, known as "Türckenbücher," and to the visual culture reflection of the Ottoman Empire's weight in European politics. In these works, sultans were often presented in a consecutive dynastic series, indicating their "number of Turkish emperors." While the phrase "fifteenth emperor" used for Mehmed III, the thirteenth Ottoman sultan, is chronologically incomplete, this is due to the artists' calculations of the Ottoman dynastic lineage based on Western sources. It is also important in demonstrating the limited knowledge of Ottoman history in early modern Europe. In the engraving, Mehmed III is depicted with a stylized iconographic conception within the Western typology of the "Eastern ruler." The large-scale, layered, and exaggeratedly modeled turban, the caftan adorned with dense floral motifs, and the long scepter held by the ruler reflect the tendency of contemporary European artists to associate Ottoman sultans with images of exotic splendor, ceremonial authority, and absolute power. While such exaggerated symbols were not actually used in Ottoman court iconography, European formatting presented the Ottoman sultans within a visual tradition that framed them with concepts of "pomp, authority, and mystery." The sharp contours, dense hatching, and square composition framing the figure suggest that the print was produced using a typical Renaissance German wood engraving (Holzschnitt) technique. This engraving appears in Sebastian Munster's Cosmographia Universalis..., first published in 1544. Over the years, the book has gone through numerous editions and revisions, becoming one of the most important works of geography and history of the 16th century. Containing a wealth of information on geography, cartography, natural history, and anthropology, the book has been widely used as a reference source by scientists, explorers, and cartographers for centuries. This engraving in our library was published in the 1628 edition of Sebastian Munster's Cosmographia Universalis...