Watercolours with Views of Istanbul in the Collection of the Kórnik Library

• Authors: Wójcik Agata

Title variants

PL

Akwarele z widokami Stambułu ze zbiorów Biblioteki Kórnickiej

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

The present paper discusses four watercolours with views of Istanbul, held in the collection of the Kórnik Library, whose authorship has so far been ascribed to Jadwiga Zamoyska. Thanks to a comparison of these watercolours with the works put up for sale at the London Bonhams and Christies auction houses it was demonstrated that the works from Kórnik were painted by Amadeo Preziosi, and Jadwiga Zamoyska bought them from the painter during her stay in Istanbul in 1854. Next, the paper gives information on Preziosi, an outstanding watercolourist from Malta who specialised in oriental views and genre scenes. Then the author went on to identify the locations in Istanbul depicted in each of the watercolours, which resulted in the works having to be re-named. The View of Istanbul was changed into a View of the Golden Horn and Bosporus from Pera; the Cemetery at Eyiip became a View of the Golden Horn from the Cemetery at Eyiip; the Landscape from the Vicinity of Istanbul was re -named a View of Rumelihisari from theAsian Bank ofthe Bosporus, while the Landscape with the Blue Mosąue became a View of the Cisr-i Cedid Bridge with the Siileymaniye Mosąue in the Background. Finally, the Kórnik watercolours were compared with other watercolours representing nineteenth-century views of Istanbul. In the conclusion, an attempt has been madę to value the four works by Preziosi. On the basis of auction records, the price of each work has been estimated at approx. 20,000 pounds.

• Publisher: Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Institute of History of Art
• Journal: Modus. Prace z historii sztuki
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 14
• Pages: 239-248

Contributors

author

Wójcik Agata