Auguste Mayer

Private collection, Austria

The canvas has been relined. There is a pattern of hairline craquelure which appears to be entirely stable, visible notably in the sky. Ultra-violet light reveals scattered retouchings, notably spots in the sky most of which are small pinhead-sized, two small strokes in the building near the centre of the left edge, and some small spots near the lower framing edge. There are some small traces of old opaque varnish in the lower half of the composition. The overall appearance of the work is good and it is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt Neoclassical-style frame.
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In this masterful evocation of the imperial Friday Salutation (Cuma selamlığı), during which the Sultan attended Friday prayers in one of the imperial mosques of the Ottoman capital, Mahmud II (r. 1808-39) is seen emerging from Beyazit Mosque to great fanfare.

Mahmud is accompanied by an elderly gentleman on horseback, presumably Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha, the Grand Vizier the year this work was painted, and surrounded by soldiers of his recently founded army, the Asakir-i Mansure (victorious soldiers). Following him are two red coaches conveying the ladies of the imperial harem. The onlookers include children, women, mevlevi dervishes, sufi sheikhs, religious scholars, clergymen, Europeans, soldiers, and tradesmen.

The gate seen opposite the mosque is to the Supreme Command and barracks of the New Army founded by Mahmud himself, in 1826, and is today occupied by Istanbul University. Beyond can be seen the Beyazit Tower (see note to lot 3).

Born in Brest and known principally as a marine painter, Mayer debuted at the Paris Salon of 1824. He exhibited Orientalist subjects there from the 1830s onwards, including Egyptian views and a depiction of Çeşme on the Aegean coast in 1844. Among his most well known works is a Scène de la bataille de Trafalgar of 1836, now in the Musée de la Marine in Paris. In 1839 Mayer was made Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, and became an Officier in 1867.