After Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, Cameria, or Mihrimah Sultan (1522-78), daughter of Süleyman the Magnificent, Italy, 17th century

Mihrimah Sultan (1522-78), whose name means 'Light of the Moon', was the daughter of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r.1522-66) and his favourite wife, the Sultana Rossa. She was a powerful Ottoman princess who played an active role in politics, both as chief of the Imperial Harem (during the reign of Selim II (r.1566-74)) and with foreign courts. 

This painting is one of several after a lost portrait of Mihrimah by Titian, depicting Mihrimah as Saint Catherine, believed originally to have formed part of the collection of Bishop Paolo Giovio (1483-1552). Other versions include those at the Pera Museum, Turkey (inv. no.102); the Courtauld Institute, London (inv. no.331); and Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (inv. no.996348).

She was the only child of Sultan Süleyman to be buried in her father's tomb in the Süleymaniye Mosque complex, Istanbul, and there remain two mosques in her name, one situated in the Uskudar quarter of Istanbul, edified by the architect Mimar Sinan and the other at the Edirne Gate.