The Sultana-Mother

Sultane is written on this small canvas, and the number four gives its place in a numbered set of Turkish figures. The woman is the valide sultan, the mother of the reigning sultan. She ran the imperial harem, and in some reigns she held real political power. She was also one of the least visible people in the empire. She lived in the harem of Topkapı Palace, and no foreign visitor could expect to set eyes on her.

The Rijksmuseum lists the sitter as a woman not known by name. The figure is a type, made in Jean Baptiste Vanmour's workshop for the costume series that western visitors collected, where every rank of Ottoman society had its labelled figure and the sultan's mother had hers. She stands full length in court dress. At the right, only his head showing, is a black eunuch of the harem, one of the palace servants who guarded the women's quarters.