The Daughter of the English Ambassador Riding in a Palanquin

Until he was appointed as the court painter in 1896, Zonaro was predominantly commissioned by the European embassies in İstanbul. In his memoirs, the artist reveals that British Ambassador Sir Philip W. Currie (1894-96), who was one of Zonaro’s clients, commissioned a painting depicting his stepdaughter on the palanquin on her way to the church to marry to a diplomat. Sir Currie also requested the view of the Golden Horn -as seen from the garden of the embassy-, to be included in the background of the painting. The palanquin carriers, two embassy officials smartly dressed in their uniforms, and the young woman sitting on the palanquin in her bridal veil, posed for the artist for several days. According to the accounts kept by Zonaro’s wife Elisa, British Ambassador Sir Philip W. Currie paid 42.27 Liras in May 1896 in exchange for one oil painting and one watercolor painting. This must be the oil painting in question.