IVAN KONSTANTINOVICH AIVAZOVSKY | VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin (1857-1916)

Thence by descent to his daughter Mihriban Mihrişah Sultana (1916-1987)

Thence by descent to the present owner

Even in the earliest days of the Ottoman empire, Mehmed the Conqueror attracted artists and scholars to his court, becoming one of the principal Renaissance patrons of his time. This cultivation of the arts continued throughout the centuries and by the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Aziz, himself an artist, was well known for his patronage of contemporary art and extensive collection of European paintings. Aivazovsky arrived at Constantinople for the second time in mid-1874, at the invitation of the Sultan. He received a commission to paint over thirty paintings for the Dolmabahce Palace. This view of Constantinople belonged to Sultan Abdul Aziz's son, Şehzade (Prince) Yusuf Izzeddin (fig.1), and has remained in the collection of his descendants ever since.

The present work is included in the numbered archive of the artist's work compiled by Gianni Caffiero and Ivan Samarine.