(Carpentras 1825–1901 Didier)
The Mihrişah Valide Sultan Fountain (or Küçüksu Fountain) of the Sweet Waters of Asia in Istanbul with the Rumelihisarı (Rumelian Castle) on the Bosporus, signed Jules Laurens, oil on canvas, 109 x 80 cm, framed, (GG) 

Provenance:
European Private Collection.

Jules Laurens made his artistic debut at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier before moving to Paris in 1842. There, he entered the studio of the history painter Paul Delaroche. In the late 1840s, he accompanied the geographer Xavier Hommaire de Hell’s scientific expedition to Turkey and Persia for a three-year voyage. Upon his arrival in Constantinople, he was eager to draw the sites and the daily activities of the people there. He drew every day. These drawings provided the basis for a significant career as an Orientalist painter. In 1849, he returned to Paris with over a thousand sketches and the travel notes of Xavier Hommaire de Hell, who died in Isfahan in Iran.

The Mirisah-Valide-Sultan-Fountain visible in the foreground is located on the Asian shore of the Bosporus. It was built by Sultan Selim III’s mother, Mihrisah Sultan, in 1805. It soon became one of the favourite gathering places for townspeople and travellers, as we can see in the present lot. A couple with a child is drinking water in one of the four niches while a man lying on the grass is watching them. This peaceful landscape is depicted with large cypress trees, symbols of eternity, rising towards the sky. The Rumelian Castle is visible in the distance. It was erected by Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452 in order to control sea traffic. It was completed in a mere four months.