Lot 163: Elias Martin (Swedish, 1739-1818) Portrait of Roxelana

Portrait of Roxelana
pen and ink and wash, oval, unframed
13 x 10cm (5 1/8 x 3 15/16in).

Roxelana or Hürrem as she is known in Turkish, was born in Poland and captured as a slave by Crimean Tatars. She was taken to Istanbul where she was selected for the harem of Sultan Süleyman (1494-1566). She soon became a favorite of the Sultan and bore him five children. Her influence over him soon became legendary and in a break from tradition, she was freed from slavehood and became his legal wife. Her son Selim inherited the Sultan's empire. She died in 1558, eight years before her husband.