A man in a plumed headdress

A man in a plumed headdress

Print

Castiglione’s etching A man in a plumed headdress embodies his fascination with Otherness. The headdress dominates the composition, and casts a shadow over the figure’s face. The man wears an earring in his right ear, an element frequently used when depicting Oriental figures. The feathers in the turban are exotic symbols of the East, and the suggestion of a robe enhances stereotypical Oriental garb. The figure’s relatively unaffected facial expression draws all the attention to the turban, which is clearly the focal point of the work. The exotic clothing depicted is a symbol for the Ottoman Turk, and creates an image that is culturally and geographically distant from the early modern viewer.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

Royal Collection Trust

late 1640s

Public Domain

Part of the Series of Oriental Heads

Still Image

RCIN 830471.h

Etching

platemark 108 x 80 mm