Halil Bey, Son of Caïmakan of Sinope c. 1855

Curator: Here we have Jules Didier's print, "Halil Bey, Son of Caïmakan of Sinope," residing here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The texture is what immediately grabs me; the way the light catches the fabric, giving it such a tactile quality. Curator: Absolutely, Didier mastered the print medium to convey a very detailed ethnographic record, reflecting the 19th-century European fascination with the Ottoman Empire. Editor: But beyond the detailed rendering, it also shows the labor involved in the printmaking process, the precision, and the skill required to create such fine lines. Curator: Indeed. The image also participates in a larger discourse about power, otherness, and representation, framing Halil Bey through a very specific European lens. Editor: Thinking about the material conditions under which this image was produced and consumed adds a layer of complexity, doesn't it? Curator: It certainly does, especially when considering its legacy and continued presence in a museum collection like this.