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Secondary sourcePaintingbefore 1568

Saladin portrait by Cristofano dell'Altissimo

Cristofano dell'Altissimo · before 1568

An imagined Renaissance-era painted portrait of Saladin, made centuries after his death.

An imagined likeness of Saladin, created centuries after his death, showing how later Europeans pictured him.

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Painting of a bearded man with dark eyes and a thick dark beard, wearing a large white turban with tall folded fabric and a dark robe over a light shirt. The inscription at the top reads SALADIN. Brown background.
Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Saladin, before 1568.

About this source

What it is

This is a painted portrait labeled "SALADIN," showing a bearded man in a large white turban and dark robe. It was made before 1568, long after Saladin's lifetime.

Why it matters

Since no portrait of Saladin was made during his life, later artists like this one had to imagine his appearance. This painting reflects how Europeans of the Renaissance pictured a famous Muslim leader from the Crusades, blending imagination with ideas about Middle Eastern dress.

Look closer

  • Since the artist never saw Saladin, what clues suggest this image was imagined rather than observed?
  • What does the turban and clothing tell us about how the artist pictured people from the Muslim world?
  • Why might later generations want to create a portrait of someone whose true appearance was unknown?

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

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Engraving of a mounted figure in a tunic on a pale horse, with a banner-carrying rider behind him and a scroll above reading a proclamation. Soldiers with spears and a tent camp appear on the left, and a walled town on a hill behind. Caption below in print reads that Saladin caused it to be proclaimed that he carried nothing with him to the grave but a shirt.Painting

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Secondary source

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