Professor Dr. İlber Ortaylı stated that the person opposite Fatih was his son, Cem Sultan, and said, “Fatih Sultan Mehmet liked Cem Sultan and found him close to him in his talents.”
PROPERTIES OF PORTRAIT
The work of Gentile Bellini, which is considered as one of the most important paintings and studied with oil on canvas, is 33.4 inches in width and 45.4 centimeters in length. In the lower right corner of the table, the date noted in Latin letters is 25 November 1480.
On the other hand, it is still unknown who the second person in the portrait of Fatih Sultan Mehmet is. According to Sara Plumby, who is responsible for Islam and Hindu Art Works at Christie’s auction hall, there are two different theories about who the person in the painting is. The first is that the second figure is one of the three sons of the sultan. However, the second person in the table II. The small age difference with Mehmet refutes this claim. The owners of the other claim argue that the figure on the table is a white person and shaved, and is a Western person.
Fatih Sultan Mehmet invited the painter Bellini, who lived between 1429 and 1507, to Istanbul in 1479, before he allowed him to paint, he drew pictures of different people in the palace to be sure of his talent. Fatih, after making sure of the Italian painter’s abilities, began to draw his own portraits.
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