On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Mehmed Said Efendi, Ambassador of the Sublime Porte
Jacques André Joseph Aved French
Having already accompanied his father to France in spring 1721, Said Efendi led his own extraordinary embassy there in 1742. In Paris, Aved painted him dressed in a sable-lined caftan. Symbols of his learning surround him, including a book by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius, as well as his credentials, written in Ottoman court language (a combination of Arabic and Persian words and script) and bearing the seal of the Empire. The Sublime Porte of the title is a traditional reference to the Ottoman government, while the view of Paris in the background pictures Said Efendi’s entry through the Porte Saint-Antoine, one of the gates of Paris.
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