View of Constantinople by evening light. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

View of Constantinople by evening light. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

The picture is important because it depicts the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Galata Tower in Istanbul during the Ottoman period. Galata Tower is seen with its previous conical roof, which was destroyed by a storm in 1875 (the current conical roof of Galata Tower was built during the restoration works between 1965 and 1967.) The human figures in the painting provide us with information regarding the traditions and daily life in the Ottoman Empire during the first half of the 19th century, before the Tanzimat reforms for Western style clothing became widely applied among the civilian population.
1846
oil on canvas
120 × 189 cm (47.2 × 74.4 in)
Private collection