Kozbekçi Mustafa Ağa and his Retinue

Following Tsar Peter the Great’s victory over Sweden in 1709, Sweden’s King Charles XII took refuge in the Ottoman Empire. The king having incurred a great deal of debt while in the Ottoman Empire, Kozbekçi Mustafa Ağa was sent to Stockholm in 1727 to collect these debts. Even though Mustafa Ağa returned after fifteen months without having succeeded in the collecting the debts, he and his retinue consisting of twenty-three people were received with all honours. His portrait was painted by Schröder, court painter of Frederic I. The bejewelled dagger on the belt of Mustafa Ağa, who has been depicted in his ermine kaftan together with three people of his retinue, is particularly noteworthy. Almost like a template, figures of the ambassador’s retinue are repeated in the painting titled “Mehmet Said Efendi and his Retinue” of the artist which is also in the exhibition.