La favorita del Turco (The Sultan's Favorite)
Cesare Vecellio (Italian, Venetian, ca. 1521–1601)
From: De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due … (Of Ancient and Modern Dress from Diverse Parts of the World in Two Books …)
Publisher: Damiano Zenaro, Venice, 1590
Printed book with woodcuts by Christoph Krieger [Cristoforo Guerra] (d. ca. 1590); 6 9/16 x 4 15/16 x 2 1/16 in. (16.7 x 12.5 x 5.2 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1906, transferred from Library (21.36.146)
Technical Glossary
Cesare Vecellio (Italian, Venetian, ca. 1521–1601)
From: De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due … (Of Ancient and Modern Dress from Diverse Parts of the World in Two Books …)
Publisher: Damiano Zenaro, Venice, 1590
Printed book with woodcuts by Christoph Krieger [Cristoforo Guerra] (d. ca. 1590); 6 9/16 x 4 15/16 x 2 1/16 in. (16.7 x 12.5 x 5.2 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1906, transferred from Library (21.36.146)
The Venetian painter Cesare Vecellio created one of the most famous early printed costume books. The first section of his book covers European dress, including Ottoman Turkey, while the short section on Africa and Asia includes the costume of Persians, Moors, and Arabs. Here the book is open to Vecellio's engraving of La favorita del Turco. The elegantly dressed woman is probably meant to be Roxelane, a beautiful concubine who became the favorite wife and confidant of the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66).
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