Name of Object:

The Tortoise Trainer

Location:

Istanbul, Türkiye

Holding Institution:

Pera Museum

 About Pera Museum, Istanbul

Date of Object:

Early 20th century

Author:

Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

W: 1200 + H: 2215 cm

Description:

Rather than depicting the “other” as a number of foreign painters did, Osman Hamdi portrayed his own culture and propounded his own cultural perceptions. The architectural decor suggests that the scene takes place in one of the upper-story chambers of the Bursa Green Mosque. Dressed as a dervish and slightly bent over, a man is examining in a contemplative fashion the tortoises roaming the floor. He sports an araqiyya, a flattish skull cap commonly worn by dervishes with a destar, or sash wrapped around it. He wears a belted, long red robe the borders of which are embroidered; his feet are clad in çedik, or slippers for indoor wear, made of yellow sahtiyan, Moroccan (goatskin) leather. He holds a ney in one of the hands he has clasped behind; a nakkare or a small kettledrum hangs down from his back.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Orientalist Paintings Collection-Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection

Citation of this web page:

"The Tortoise Trainer" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tr;41;en

Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: TR2 037