Dervich, des Indes, plate 92 from "Recueil de cent estampes représentent differentes nations du Levant"

Art Historical Context

This striking print, titled *Dervich, des Indes* (Dervish from India), is plate 92 from the influential 1714–15 publication *Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant*. Created through etching and engraving by Gérard Jean Baptiste Scotin I after designs by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, the work formed part of a landmark series published by Jacques le Hay. The volume offered European audiences one of the earliest comprehensive visual surveys of peoples across the Ottoman Empire and neighboring regions, blending careful observation with the period’s fascination for exotic cultures. The central figure, a dervish, is depicted in traditional attire that signals his role as a Sufi mystic. Vanmour, who lived in Constantinople, supplied the original drawings based on direct encounters, which Scotin then translated into the precise lines and tonal contrasts characteristic of early eighteenth-century printmaking. Such reproductive techniques allowed the images to circulate widely, shaping Western perceptions of Eastern dress, customs, and social types. Today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this sheet exemplifies the era’s growing interest in ethnographic documentation. Its careful rendering of costume and posture continues to offer viewers a vivid window into cross-cultural exchange during the late Ottoman period.

About the Artist

Jacques le Hay|Jean Baptiste Vanmour|Gérard Jean Baptiste Scotin I (French| ) · 1671 |1650 –1737 |1750

French, Valenciennes 1671–1737 Istanbul (Constantinople)|