Whirling Dervishes

Among the spectators behind the railing on the right, close to the sheikh's seat, stand two men whose features closely resemble Patrona Halil and his accomplice Muslu Beşe, the leaders of the Istanbul revolt of 1730. Nobody knows why Vanmour gave them such a prominent place, the Rijksmuseum notes, but the likeness helps to date the picture to the weeks between October and November 1730, when the rebel leaders were killed. The hall belongs to the Mevlevi lodge near the Dutch embassy in Pera, the oldest in the city. The sheikh stands at the edge of the floor in a white robe, and the two men in the foreground are greeting him one by one before they begin. Up on the balcony a flute is playing. As each dervish turns, his right hand reaches up to receive the blessing of heaven and his left passes it down to the earth.