ROXELANA, WIFE OF SULTAN SÜLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT, ITALY, 19TH CENTURY |

oil on canvas, Roxelana is dressed in a green and bordeaux richly embroidered Italianate dress, with crown and veil, in gilt-wood frame

UV light reveals extensive overpainting throughout, notably around nose and cheeks, also affecting the dress. Background dark, re-lined, the frame overall good condition, probably later, re-gilt, as viewed.
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Known in the West as Roxelana, this painting depicts one of the most famous women of the Ottoman empire. Originally from Europe, she was was sold at an early age in the slave markets of Constantinople and entered the harem of Sultan Süleyman I ('The Magnificent'). Her Turkish name, 'Hurrem' meant 'the laughing/joyful one' and she soon became the Sultan's favourite, bearing him six children, until he eventually defied convention and married her. This incredible story, and the influence which she wielded within the Ottoman Empire, made Roxelana the subject of many European and Turkish paintings. The present example appears to have been influenced by Titian's famous painting of her, La Sultana Rossa, circa 1550. 

For further information on Roxelana, see L. Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European slave girl became queen of the Ottoman empire, Basic Books, 2017.