Sultan Ahmed III

Ahmed III ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1703 to 1730, and the last 12 years of his reign are now called the Tulip Era. The sultan was fascinated by tulips, and his court held lavish festivities that lasted as long as the flowers were in bloom. The name itself came much later. It only became current in the early 20th century, when Turkish historians looked back on those years of garden parties, pleasure pavilions and new interest in Western fashions.

Vanmour saw Ahmed III on several occasions, and the Rijksmuseum takes this as an accurate likeness. The sultan stands full length in the open air with two attendants, perhaps in the harem gardens of Topkapı Palace. He wears a fur-lined kaftan and a turban of the kind called kâtibî, wound round a flat cap and pinned with a fan-shaped jewel. His belt and the ceremonial staff in his right hand are thick with jewels as well.