Analysing the Portraits of Mehmed Pasha and Ferhad Pasha Sokolović

Abstract

The relationship between the European West and the Ottoman East has been frequently analysed through political history, but not much attention has been paid to an analysis of their mutual cultural policies. A clear example of this are portraits of Ottoman personalities pained by European artists, the most famous being the portrait of Sultan Mehmed II by the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini. In addition to the sultans, various portraits of sultans’ wives, members of the royal family and the royal entourage were painted across Europe. This paper focuses on the portraits of two of the leading Ottomans of the 16^th century – Mehmed Pasha Sokolović and Ferhat Pasha Sokolović. In addition to artistic, formal and structural analysis, the paper wishes to elucidate on art history as an under-utilised tool for reconstructing social and political reality of the relationship between European states and the Ottomans.