138 – 139 The imprisoned Sultan Bayazet before Tamerlane | 1 Corradi 1689. | 2 Corradi 1689, p. 49. | 3 Corradi 1689, p. 51. | 4 Mucchi/Croce/Morassi 1954, p. 131. | 5 Cf. Krellig 2010, p. 20. | 6 Cf. Stichel 1990/91. | 7 Cf. Milwright/Baboula 2011, p. 242. | 8 Cf. Windt 2009. | 9 Windt 2009, quoted after Friedrich der Große 1913, pp. 194 f. | 10 Cf. Milwright/Baboula 2011, pp. 250 f. | 11 Cf. Milwright/Baboula 2011. The negative assessment of the Turco-Mongol ruler Tamerlane was partially expurgated by individual authors in the 18th century. Voltaire, for example, critically examined various European sources on the historical events of the imprisonment of Bayazet. However, he also considered the hymns of praise for Tamerlane in ‘Oriental’ sources to be exaggerated.10 There are numerous primary sources and retellings of the capture of Bayazet by Tamerlane in various languages including Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and several European languages.11 All sources would have to be considered to approach the true essence of the story. However, Celesti’s historical painting focuses on aspects of history that are one-sidedly based on European sources and display no knowledge of Turkish or Persian writings. The prejudiced images of rulers of this episode in history, which emphasise brutality, sexuality and lack of self-control, were later politically instrumentalised to legitimise the colonisation of the ‘Orient’ and still serve as models for racism against Muslims today. | CAROL IN ALF F Detail from fig. 1
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