CARL SALTZMANN | Leander's Tower and the Old City Beyond, Constantinople

Private collection, Germany

The painting is unlined, and the paint surface in good condition with all the original impastos intact. There are a few scattered small spots of retouching visible under ultraviolet light including: in the sky between the minarets of the central mosque, to the upper left of this, a further spot on the far right, and another above Leander's Tower, addressing a puncture that has been patched on the reverse; and in the water to an inverted T-shaped repaired tear below the boat, and to the right of this, addressing a repaired puncture patched on the reverse. The painting is otherwise clean and ready to hang, and is presented in a 15cm wide gilt wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted from Üsküdar on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, this luminous panoramic view takes in many of Constantinople's most recognisable landmarks. In the foreground is Leander's Tower, built in the eighteenth century, which has variously served as a lighthouse, a customs control point and a maritime toll gate. The tower is known in Turkish as the 'Maiden's Tower', after a legendary princess, said to have been confined here after a prophet foretold that she would die from a snake-bite. The snake duly appeared from a basket of figs and struck the fatal blow. The English name for the tower derives from the Greek myth of Leander, who swam the Hellespont to see his lover Hero. Beyond the islet on which the tower stands, the silhouette of the Old City rises majestically from the Bosphorus, topped by Hagia Sophia flanked, on the left, by the Blue Mosque and, on the right, by the Topkapi palace. Carl Saltzmann studied at the Berlin Academy where he later taught, and enjoyed the patronage of Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederick (the future Kaiser Frederick III). In 1878 Victoria invited Saltzmann to be her son Heinrich's chaperone on his two-year world tour aboard the corvette Prinz Adalbert. From 1884 to 1885, at Heinrich's request, the brothers received instruction in drawing and painting from him. When William acceded to the throne as Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1888, he asked Saltzmann to join him on his first and successive northern tours of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark to record the journeys. His success allowed Saltzmann to commission a villa and studio in Neubabelsberg near Potsdam, where he completed many of his finished paintings including the present one, inscribed Nbbg.