Akwarele z widokami Stambułu ze zbiorów Biblioteki Kórnickiej
Watercolours with Views of Istanbul in the Collection of the Kórnik Library

Summary/Abstract: The present paper discusses four watercolours with views of Istanbul,held in the collection of the Kórnik Library, whose authorship has so far been ascribedto Jadwiga Zamoyska. Thanks to a comparison of these watercolours with the works putup for sale at the London Bonhams and Christies auction houses it was demonstratedthat the works from Kórnik were painted by Amadeo Preziosi, and Jadwiga Zamoyskabought them from the painter during her stay in Istanbul in 1854.Next, the paper gives information on Preziosi, an outstanding watercolourist fromMalta who specialised in oriental views and genre scenes. Then the author went on toidentify the locations in Istanbul depicted in each of the watercolours, which resultedin the works having to be re-named. The View of Istanbul was changed into a View ofthe Golden Horn and Bosporus from Pera; the Cemetery at Eyiip became a View of theGolden 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 SiileymaniyeMosąue in the Background. Finally, the Kórnik watercolours were compared with otherwatercolours representing nineteenth-century views of Istanbul.In the conclusion, an attempt has been madę to value the four works by Preziosi. Onthe basis of auction records, the price of each work has been estimated at approx. 20,000 pounds.

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