Ecole ANGLAISE, fin XVIIème siècle-début XVIIIème... Lot n° 127

Portrait of Mihrimah, daughter of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent Oil on canvas 74 x 62 cm Princess Mihrimah (1522-1578) was the daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), ruler of the Ottoman Empire, and his wife Roxolane (Hürrem Sultan), considered a figure of female supremacy within the Ottoman dynasty. Roxolane (1505-1558), born in Ruthenia in what is now Ukraine, became the sultan's legal wife and gave birth to five children, including Princess Mihrimah. The latter, born in 1522, in turn became the highly influential Ottoman sultana. She played an active role in politics, both as advisor to her father and brother, head of the imperial harem (during the reign of Selim II 1566-1574) and to foreign courts. She married the future vizier Rüstem Pacha. Princess Mihrimah was the only child of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to be buried in her father's tomb in Istanbul's Süleymaniye mosque complex. Two mosques bear her name: the first in Usküdar and the second in Edinerkapi, Istanbul. According to Vasari, Titian was invited to paint portraits of Soliman's favorite wife and daughter Cameria (Mihrimah), circa 1552-1560. There are several versions of this lost portrait from Titian's studio. Our painting is one of many based on Titian's, depicting Mihrimah as Saint Catherine. Other portraits by Cameria are in Florence (Galleria degli Uffizi), Mallorca (Jakober Foundation), Lacock (National Trust) and Poland (Mazovian Museum, Plock).