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Secondary sourcePainting

Print sheet with portraits of Sultan Mehmet II and Sigismondo Malatesta

A Mannerist print sheet of four portrait medallions, including the sultan in profile. It is a later copy of a Renaissance image.

A later European print showing the sultan as one of several notable men, reflecting how his image circulated in Europe.

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Engraved print sheet on cream paper with four framed portrait medallions in ornate cartouches. Top left: a turbaned, bearded man in profile labeled SULTANI MOHAMETI. Top right: a young man in profile in an oval frame. Bottom left: an elderly man in profile wearing a cap. Bottom right: a bearded older man in profile with two putti below. Page number 86 at top left.
Print sheet with portraits of Sultan Mehmet II and Sigismondo Malatesta, Mannerist style. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraved print sheet on cream paper with four framed portrait medallions in ornate frames. The top-left portrait shows the sultan in profile, labelled SULTANI MOHAMETI. The other portraits show Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, lord of Rimini, the jurist Angelo da Castro, and the cardinal Pietro Bembo. The sheet is held by the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. Its date and maker are not given in the record.

Why it matters

The sheet groups a sultan with Italian lords, a jurist and a cardinal, placing them side by side as notable men of the same period. Museum notes describe it as a later copy of a Renaissance image, so it shows how Mehmed II was remembered and displayed in Europe after his time.

Look closer

  • Why might a printmaker have placed the sultan next to Italian figures on one sheet?
  • What do the frames and ornaments tell you about the style of the period in which the sheet was made?
  • Who might have owned or bought this sheet, and what does that suggest about its audience?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mehmed II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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