Lot 226: ALEXIUS GEYER GERMAN, 1816-1883

signed l.c.

oil on canvas

80 by 140cm., 31 1/2 by 55in.

PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Constantinople, the city where East meets West and the cradle of numerous cultures, was a muse for European artists during the nineteenth century. The captivating beauty of the Ottoman city, built on seven hills surrounded by the Bosphorus, was a source of inspiration as well as wonder.

The present work provides a fascinating visual survey of Constantinople in the early nineteenth century. Painted from the hill in Beyoglu, near Galatea tower (just visible to the right edge of the composition) it depicts Kadikoy in the distance, then Üsküdar, Leander's tower on a small reef in the Bosphorus, and then the Nüretiye Mosque (built by Viktor Bahyan, an Armenian architect, in 1826 in a blend of baroque and empire styles), the Tophane (Gun foundry) with its curiously shaped series of roofs, rebuilt in 1803, the Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque, built by Sanan in 1580 for a renegate Italian admiral, and across the Golden Horn, Agia Eirene, the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace.