A Portrait Album of the Ottoman Sultans

The album is comprised of the portraits of the 36 Ottoman sultans and background information about their reigns, in chronological order. The names of the parents of each sultan, of his male heirs, his age at accession and at death and the length of each reign are indicated. The album serves as a handy guide to the principal events of the reign of each Ottoman sultan. The illustrations for the book are the work of the Ottoman subject, Konstantin Kizikinos, a native of Kapıdağı who was born in the 18th century. He was commissioned to paint the portraits of the Ottoman dynasty by Sultan Selim III and which are preserved in Topkapı Palace. The portraits first appeared in J. Young, A Series of Portraits of the Emperors of Turkey from the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Year 1815, Engraved from Pictures Painted at Constantinople Commended under the Auspices of Sultan Selim the Third and Completed by the Command of Mahmud the Second with a Biographical Account of Each of the Emperors (London, 1815). The paintings of the sultans succeeding Abdulmejid are the product of different hands.