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The Sultan Mehmet II
Artist / Origin: Attr. to Gentile Bellini (Italian, ca. 1429–1507)
Region: Europe
Date: 1480
Period: 1400 CE – 1800 CE
Material: Oil (19th-century repaint) on canvas, possibly transferred from wood
Medium: Painting
Dimensions: H: 27 ½ in. (69.9 cm.), W: 20 ½ in. (52.1 cm).
Location: The National Gallery, London, UK
Credit: Courtesy of Bridgeman Art Library
Portrait of East India Company Official (probably William Fullerton)
Artist / Origin: Dip Chand (Indian, active 18th c.)
Region: South and Southeast Asia
Date: 1760-63
Period: 1400 CE – 1800 CE
Material: Opaque watercolor on paper
Medium: Painting
Dimensions: H: 10 ½ in. (26.2 cm.), W: 9 in. (22.7 cm.)
Location: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Credit: Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Art Resource, NY
We generally think about portraits as expressions of one’s identity. What does it mean when an individual is painted by a foreign artist in a hybrid style? Does it always mean the same thing? A comparison of Gentile Bellini’s portrait of Mehmet II and Dip Chand’s picture of the Scottish surgeon William Fullerton can provide insight into the choices that went into making the works and the function of cultural fusion in art.