Turkish painter Osman Hamdi Bey’s second rendition of “The Tortoise Trainer” has found a new home in the permanent exhibition titled “Viewing Turkish Painting” at Türkiye İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum. Dated 1907, this version now resides alongside the first rendition from 1906, which is exhibited at the Pera Museum.
In the 1907 iteration, titled “The Man with Tortoise,” Osman Hamdi Bey depicted six tortoises, in contrast to the five seen in the 1906 painting. The artwork features a line from the Bursa Green Mosque, attributed to Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, alongside a plate inscribed with “Muhammad,” and a distinctive Çanakkale jug with green dripping on white, adding unique elements to this particular rendition.
Professor Gül İrepoğlu, the founding curator of Türkiye İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum, described Osman Hamdi Bey as the only orientalist painter capable of viewing Turkish culture from within. She praised the painting as a reflection of the artist’s vast imagination and universal inspirations, particularly dedicating it to his son-in-law Mahmud Münir Pasha.
