A Group of Turkish Women at Prayer 1555 - 1559

This delicate sketch, titled 'A Group of Turkish Women at Prayer,' is from an unknown hand, inviting us to consider whose perspective is absent as much as what is present. During a time when Western European cultures were increasingly interested in the "Orient," representations of women from these regions often became loaded with projection and fantasy. Here, we see a group of women in a domestic setting, engaged in private devotion. The artist, working from outside this cultural context, captures a moment of perceived intimacy but perhaps also reinforces the idea of the 'veiled' and 'mysterious' East. How does the artist negotiate—or perhaps fail to negotiate—cultural boundaries? Does this depiction perpetuate stereotypes, or does it offer a nuanced glimpse into a specific cultural practice? Consider the position of women within these representations, and question the lens through which their identities and experiences are being framed. It asks us to reflect on the emotional and cultural distance between the artist and their subject.