The Hearing of Qadi 1746 - 1747

Claude Augustin Duflos le Jeune created this print, The Hearing of Qadi, sometime in the 18th century. The print depicts a judicial scene, and the Qadi, or judge, is shown hearing a case. Prints like this one contributed to a fashion for so-called “Turkish imagery” that developed in France in the 1700s. This was due in part to France's close diplomatic and commercial ties with the Ottoman Empire at the time. The French upper classes became fascinated with Turkish culture, although their understanding of it was often filtered through fantasy and stereotypes. So-called “Turkish costume” became popular at masquerades. Prints like this one would have been produced for a growing market of art collectors, and the institutions of the art market shaped the way non-European cultures were perceived and represented. Art historians have to look at a wide variety of documentary sources to get a sense of how this imagery was consumed and understood by its original audience.