A WATERCOLOR PORTRAIT OF SULTAN ABDUL HAMID II, ITALY, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Opaque pigments on paper, depicting the three-quarter profile of sultan Abdul Hamid II, wearing his typical red fez hat. The blue military jacket and a white shirt with an European-inspired military star decoration. The painting style clearly influenced by western military portraits. Encased within an ivory and colored woods-inlaid frame, decorated with typical geometric star motifs, grid patterns and bands of fretwork. Fausto Zonaro (18 September 1854 – 19 July 1929) was an Italian painter, best known for his realist style paintings of life and history of the Ottoman Empire. 33 by 25 cm.