Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)

Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)

William Hogarth

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hogarth made this print early in his career to illustrate a travel book by the French author Aubry de La Mottraye. The image of the Turkish sultan being crowned derives in part from "Recueil de cent estampes représentant differéntes nations du Levant..." (A Collection of One Hundred Prints Representing Nations of the Levant, 1712-13). In that earlier publication works engraved by Philippe Simonneau (1685–1753) and Gerard Scotin (1643–1715) after Jean Baptiste Vanmour include plate 1, "Le Grand Seigneur en habit de Ceremonie le jour du Beiram" (The Great Lord in ceremonial holiday dress), plate 15, "Capidgi-Bachi, ou maitre de ceremonies" (Capidgi-Bachi the master of ceremonies), plate 14: "Le Bach Chiaoux, Chef des huissiers" (Le Bach Chiaoux, Leader of the Hussars), plate 20, "Le Moufti, or Chef de la Loy" (The Mufti, or chief lawyer), and plate 27: "Le Grand Vizir, en Habit et turban de ceremonie" (The Grand Vizier in ceremonial dress and turban). Hogarth's print arranges these figures around the sultan and places them in a mosque interior derived from the latter print.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)Sultan Ahmed III Crowned in the Mosque at Eyups (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 17B)

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.