Portret van Mahmud II, sultan van het Ottomaanse Rijk c. 1825 - 1861

Curator: Ah, here we have a lithograph rendering, after a drawing, by Antoine Maurin: it's a "Portrait of Mahmud II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire," dating from around 1825-1861. It is just majestic isn't it? Editor: It has an undeniable presence. I’m struck by the weight of tradition the image carries; even rendered in a somewhat detached print form, the man himself seems almost suffocated by the very symbols that empower him. The huge turban…the fur… Curator: I feel like the artist romanticized the portrait a little. There's something in the shadowing around the eyes, the softness of the fur… it elevates him, yet softens his gaze with almost melancholy, rather than just depicting cold power. Editor: Precisely! That’s the Romanticism peeking through. Note the feathered turban ornament—ostentatious display meeting spiritual aspiration. But observe too the sword: nestled into his robes. It could be read as purely symbolic, a vestige of former power or the reality of it lurking just beneath the surface of piety. Which is it? Or both? Curator: It makes you wonder about his internal state, doesn’t it? How did he balance the weight of his role with personal ambitions, fears, desires? This piece certainly evokes him as a real person, not just some distant regal figure. That makes you think: to wear all those layers of symbol... must get exhausting. Editor: Indeed. All rulers are players upon a world stage. We assign specific meanings and messages to dress and accoutrements which the wearers embody—consciously or not. It begs the question: Is this Sultan in command of the cultural imagery that surrounds him or vice versa? Is this Mahmud II or merely a portrait of “Mahmud II”? Curator: Exactly! It reminds me that rulers, despite wielding power, are still so susceptible to representation. He's playing the role of a Sultan, to the expectations of the audience of his time and for the audience of our time, staring up at him from this picture today. What do we see, what are we meant to see? The distance this image traveled across cultures and history, so we can wonder about who he was in himself. I'd almost want to just go back in time, show him this and say 'So, what do you think?' Editor: That chasm between signifier and signified yawns wider the further back we look, doesn't it? Makes me feel less secure in my interpretations and observations. An iconographer's lament! Curator: Yes! Though sometimes I wonder, as the artist, is the power of this print simply that space in between, all that vast room for imagination... to create some of our own magic.