Turkish Penitents and Rites of Penance, Hand Colored Lithograph, 1842

This original antique lithograph, hand colored, comes from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows two bearded men seated on fur mats against a plain wall. The man at the left, in a very tall purple gray felt cap and a striped ocher robe, sits with his knees drawn up and a string of beads in his hands. The man at the right kneels in a blue robe and brown vest, his hands on his knees, and a cord hanging from above is fastened to the crown of his head. The lower image shows a hall with an arched niche in the back wall, two inscribed panels above it and a rack of curved blades on the wall. Men in turbans and long robes of yellow, lavender, blue and red stand in a ring, several holding curved blades, while one man lies on the floor at the right. In the foreground a crowd of turbaned men in green, red, blue and yellow coats watches, some raising blades.

The lettering reads "Tav 124" at the top left, "TURCHIA EUROPEA" at the center and "Tom IV" at the top right. The upper caption reads "Penitenzieri" (penitents), and the lower caption reads "Riti di Penitenza" (rites of penance).

The plate belongs to the section of the volume on European Turkey, the provinces of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, seen here through two scenes of penance.

An unusual subject for a collection of religious history or Eastern costume.

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