Signed lower right: JH Kretzschmer
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
362 x 277 mm., 14 ¼ x 10 ¾ in.
Kretzschmer studied at the Art Academy
in Dusseldorf between 1831 and 1837. In 1838 he visited Rome and in 1840-41 he
travelled to Sicily, Greece and Egypt. The present work is likely to date from
this trip which was partly funded by painting portraits of local dignitaries
including the Ottoman sultan Abdulmecid I.