Lot 183 | Arte Islamica A portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389-1402)After Cristofano dell'Altissimo (Firenze 1525-1605)17th century Oil on canvas .

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Arte Islamica A portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389-1402)After Cristofano dell'Altissimo (Firenze 1525-1605)17th century Oil on canvas .

Islamic Art A portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389-1402)After Cristofano dell'Altissimo (Firenze 1525-1605)17th century Oil on canvas . . Cm 54,00 x 76,00. Portrait of the sultan, pictured in profile, with a long pointed beard, a richly ornated cloak and a big rounded turban. the lower inscription identifies him as Baiazet I Turc. Impil., or the Turkish Emperor.Bayezid I was the fouth sultan of the Ottoman empire, he rose to power in 1389 and became known with the nickname of Yildrim (The Thunderbolt). The original subject of this painting was made by Cristofano dell’Altissimo as a part of the Giovio collection started in 1552 by order of Cosimo I de’ Medici, who charged the painter Cristofano dell’Altissimo with copying the portraits of the Galleria Universale degli Uomini of Paolo Giovo, bishop of Como, held in his villa in Borgovico.Giovio himself, in his book Eulogia (1546) thus described the Sultan:"...he had a stern face, and frightening to behold, with a long beard split in two by bristly curls. He was nicknamed Hildrim, that in Tartar means "lightning" of those that frighten like the thinder, because of his characteristic swiftness and his sudden and violent attacks during wars..." (in Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium). Cristofano dell'Altissimo painted at least 280 portraits, among these Sultans and Eastern important people are the rarest. During the centuries, paintings such as this have been copied and used also as diplomatic gifts.We know at least two series including Sultans and eastern people portraits: one at the Topkapi Palace of Instanbul, constituted by the portraits shipped from Venice in 1779, and another composed of 14 portraits painted by Veronese in the Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen of Munich.Provenance: Private Collection Milan, Italy.