About the Work

Winding along a bay is a long procession. A large group of men and a handful of women accompany several elegantly dressed men on horses. Behind them, across the river, we see a large city. The man ahorse in the centre of the painting, with the golden cape and hat, is the Bailo of Constantinople. Along with his entourage (the men in wigs and triangular hats behind him), this Venetian dignitary—essentially the ambassador of Venice to Constantinople—is on his way to present his letters of credence to the Ottoman Sultan. Riding in front of him to escort the procession is the Sultan’s most senior assistant, the Chiaus, recognisable by his tall hat, while marching at the parade’s head are the Janissaries, mercenaries in the army of the Sultan.

The Venetian Bailo could present his credentials to the Ottoman Sultan only on a handful of days each year. The Sultan had decreed that he would only receive the Bailo and accept his letters of credence on the day the Janissaries received their salary, so that the payment of these soldiers became part of the same procession and ceremony. The Janissaries were also honoured with a meal in Topkapi Palace on this day. One ambassador’s travel journal describes how several thousand Janissaries descended upon the platters of pilaf, causing a deafening din as they feasted. This was a deliberate choice on the Sultan’s part: the mercenary troops rebelled frequently, but they would never do so on the day they received their salary. Instead, their presence would intimidate the new ambassador. As the print above shows, the procession was organised according to strict protocol, and the order of the figures in the painting matches that of the print. The caption beneath the print outlines the various roles of the people portrayed.

Bailo Francesco Gritti

Francesco Gritti served as Bailo from 1723 to 1727. He was also the subject of another painting by Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, which depicts his audience with Sultan Ahmed III in 1725. This painting is currently housed in the Pera Museum in Istanbul (inv. no. AK7229514).

The Bailo was the official representative of the Republic of Venice at the Ottoman court. As such, it was his responsibility to maintain good relations with the Sultan and his court, and to protect the political and economic interests of Venice. Gritti’s report paints an unvarnished picture of Ahmed III, describing him as a learned man and a skilled administrator, but also as cruel and avaricious.

The present procession of the Venetian Bailo was painted in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. This shows not only that European/Turkish relations have existed for centuries, but also that ambassadors and the tradition of their reception have a long history as well. The painting also presents a splendid view of Istanbul by the bay of the Golden Horn as it looked in the early eighteenth century.

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Literature

R. van Luttervelt, De “Turkse”schilderijen van J.B. Vanmour en zijn school, Istanbul 1958.
H. Theunissen, Topkapi & Turkomanie Turks-Nederlandse ontmoetingen sinds 1600, Amsterdam 1989.
D. Bull e.a., De ambassadeur, de sultan en de kunstenaar op audientie in Istanbul, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 2003.
O. Nefedova, A Journey into the world of the Ottomans The art of Jean-Baptiste Vanmour (1671-1737), Milaan 2010.