Head and Shoulders of a Turk, with a Moustache and a Large Turban

Hollar evidently encountered this Turkish man in London

in 1637 as the inscription records that he drew him

ad vivum (from life). The artist clearly delighted in the

large, bejewelled turban, and its many folds are carefully

rendered.

In Hollar’s time the Ottoman Turks governed much of

eastern Europe and were the scourge of the western

Christian states. Hollar’s print betrays little of the

traditional hostility toward Turkish subjects and instead

scrutinises his subject’s physiognomy and exotic dress.

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