The Janissary Aga, Commander-in-Chief of the Janissaries

In the early 18th century, the man responsible for order on the streets of Istanbul was a soldier. The agha of the janissaries commanded the empire's standing infantry, and together with the grand vizier he also answered for public order in the capital. From his headquarters near the Süleymaniye Mosque, known as the Ağa Kapısı, the Agha's Gate, he sent out patrols, dealt with emergencies and kept an eye on the city's tradesmen, making sure bread and other basic goods were on sale at the fixed price.

Here he is an old man with a white beard, standing full length in a doorway in a very tall white turban and a white robe under a dark, fur-lined coat. The number two is painted in the corner. The Dutch label on the back names a different officer altogether, Capitijn Pacha, the admiral of the Ottoman fleet, while the Rijksmuseum catalogues the figure as the agha.