The original portrait of Mehmed the Conqueror, held in a private collection, was put up for auction on 25 June by the world-renowned Christie's auction house in London…
The original portrait of Mehmed the Conqueror (Fatih Sultan Mehmet), held in a private collection, was put up for auction on 25 June by the world-renowned Christie's auction house in London.
At the auction, the original painting was purchased for 7,923,000 lira on the instruction of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
One of three original portraits of Mehmed the Conqueror made in his own era and surviving to the present day, the painting has now begun its journey back to İstanbul.
Mahir Polat, Head of the İBB Department of Cultural Heritage, travelled to London on 8 August with an accompanying delegation to take delivery of the work.
According to Özlem Güvemli's report in Sözcü, the work — from the workshop of the Venetian painter Bellini — was examined by Polat and accompanying experts before being received. The İBB delegation returned to Turkey on 12 August.
ARRIVED IN İSTANBUL ON 20 AUGUST — The portrait was handed over to a specialist cargo firm by the auction house on 20 August and set off for İstanbul. The famous painting is understood to have arrived on the night of 20 August, with customs procedures beginning on 21 August.
The painting, whose customs procedures are ongoing, is expected to be brought shortly to İBB's presidential building in Saraçhane.
As a first step, it will rest in a special storage area prepared on the ground floor of the İBB Saraçhane Campus, where the conditions required to preserve a Renaissance-era work have been provided.
Once the process is complete, the painting will be shared with the public with the participation of Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
PANDEMIC MEASURE — Due to pandemic measures, the painting is planned to be opened to the public from late September or early October.
The portrait will later be placed permanently in its home at a museum to be built according to a roadmap determined by experts.
ONE OF THE LAST SITTINGS — Counted among Gentile Bellini's most important paintings and executed in oil on canvas, the work is 33.4 cm wide and 45.4 cm high.
The date noted in Latin letters in the lower-right corner is 25 November 1480. It is thought to be one of the last sittings Mehmed the Conqueror — who died on 3 May 1481 — gave to the painter Bellini.