'Ottomania' show dazzles at National Museum in Kraków

'Ottomania', which is currently being hosted by the National Museum in Kraków, brings together over 150 works from public and private collections around the world.

Portraits by masters such as Paulo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto and Gentile Bellini, are complemented by manuscripts, engravings, armour, textiles and more.

In recent decades, major international exhitibitions presenting contacts between the East and the West have tended to focus on Venice, Florence and the Holy Roman Empire.

However, in the current show, Central Europe is also given prominence.

Personalities such as Roxelana, who was born on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth but ended up becoming wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, provide engaging subjects. Roxelana was kidnapped during a Tatar raid and she ended up in the sultan's harem, where she quickly found favour.

Likewise, an iconic portrait of Transylvanian-born Polish king Stefan Batory, provides an example of how the Polish elite's tastes turned markedly Oriental. This trend developed in concert with the Polish nobility's belief that it was descended from the ancient Sarmatians.

The exhibition, which began in Brussels under the title 'Ottomans and Europeans', will run in Kraków until 27 September. (nh)