Turkish Woman with a Tambourine

From 1738 to 1743, Liotard lived in Constantinople, where he learned the Turkish language and adopted the local clothing and life-style. The attention to detail in this painting indicates his astute powers of observation as well as his technical brilliance. Liotard’s fame is founded primarily on his qualities as a pastellist and this painting is an oil replica of a smaller pastel (Zurich, private collection). This allowed him to explore other aspects of the subject matter and set other accents.

The woman in this painting has the perfectly groomed face and pale complexion of a Frenchwoman whose picturesque pose seems to clash with the sumptuous richness of the costume and the setting. “Turquerie” was a popular exotic fashion imported during the Rococo period and this is not only the subject matter of the painting, but is also evident in the painterly techniques. The contrast between the “pastel style” and the “oil painting” indicates that this is a precious model in disguise who wishes to be recognized as such.