The Capoudgi Bachi, Grand-master of the Seraglio

Three different names hang on this one figure. The museum's title calls him the kapıcıbaşı, chief of the gatekeepers of the Seraglio, the sultan's palace. The museum also suggests he may be the ibriktar ağası, the officer who handed the sultan water to wash his hands. And on the back of the canvas an older Dutch label reads Den Seraskier of Onder Visir, the commander-in-chief or under-vizier.

Confusion like this came easily. Workshops repeated these costume types many times over, and a label was only as reliable as whoever added it. What anyone had to go on was the clothing, the headdress and whatever the man held, and here that is a staff, gripped in his right hand as he stands full length.