Fontein bij Büyükdere 1822 - 1828

This is a lithograph titled "Fountain near Büyükdere," created by Paulus Lauters. Büyükdere, now part of Istanbul, was a popular resort area on the Bosphorus during the Ottoman Empire. Lauters, a Belgian artist, captures a scene reflecting the social and cultural interactions of the time. We see locals and possibly European travelers, subtly hinting at the increasing Western influence in the region. The fountain itself, a public amenity, becomes a stage for this cultural exchange. The print invites us to consider how landscape imagery was used to portray the Ottoman Empire, and the role of the artist in shaping perceptions of a place and its people. To fully understand this work, one might explore travelogues, diplomatic records, and even fashion plates of the period. These sources can reveal the complex dynamics of cultural exchange and the politics of representation in 19th-century Istanbul.