A Cadi, a Sheikh Molla and the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet, Constantinople, 1842

This original antique lithograph, colored by hand, is a plate from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). In the upper image two bearded elders meet in open country: at left a man in a tall fluted white cap and a crimson robe lined with broad white fur, one hand on his chest; at right a man in a white turban and a long lavender robe with red slippers, his hands raised as he speaks. The lower image is a view of a great mosque from the front: a central dome over a cluster of half domes and small domes, six slender minarets with balconies, a long courtyard wall with rows of windows and a central gate, and two small figures in red standing in the open ground before it.

The top margin is lettered "Tom IV" at left, "TURCHIA EUROPEA" in the center and "Tav. 114" at right. The upper captions read "Cadì" (Cadi) and "Scerk Mollà in Abito Estivo" (Sheikh molla in summer dress), and the lower one "Moschea del Sultan Akmet" (Mosque of Sultan Ahmet).

A cadi was a judge applying Islamic law in the Ottoman Empire, and a molla was a senior member of the learned class from which judges were drawn. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, built in the early seventeenth century for Sultan Ahmed I, is known for its six minarets, which the artist shows here.

The fur lined robe and the great mosque make this a fine plate for a collection of Ottoman or Istanbul subjects.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.