About this artwork
First exhibited in London in 1838, the year of Allan’s election as President of the Royal Scottish Academy, this complex and ambitious picture confirmed the artist’s status as a pioneer of British Orientalist painting. In 1829-30 Allan had travelled to Constantinople with the ambassadors who concluded the treaty which ended the struggle for Greek independence from Turkish domination. In the central group of the painting, which was supposedly based on Allan’s direct experience, an Egyptian slave-merchant is shown selling a Greek girl to a Turkish Pasha on horseback. The melodrama of the scene with the girl being torn from her distraught family contrasts with the relaxed group of men about to be served tea. Allan brought back many Turkish items which he used when composing this picture.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir William Allan (1782 - 1850) Scottish
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title:The Slave Market, Constantinople
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date created:Dated 1838
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materials:Oil on panel
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measurements:129.00 x 198.00 cm; Framed: 144.10 x 211.40 x 7.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1980
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accession number:NG 2400
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir William Allan
Sir William Allan
Born in Edinburgh, Allan was apprenticed to a coach painter before studying at the Trustees' Academy in the city from 1799; David Wilkie was a fellow student and became a lifelong friend. Allan went to London in 1803 to continue his studies, possibly at the Royal Academy. In 1805 he went to Russia...