Eugene Flandin's engraving in Turkey

The Ottoman Empire, the largest representative of the Eastern civilization, has attracted the attention of Westerners since its establishment. For this reason, The Westerners organized a travel to the vast geography for various reasons in order to recognize the unknown and wondered the Empire. From an early period The first route of travel has been the territory of Turkey. In the 19th century, French Orientalist painter Eugène Flandin who was between the western artists visited Turkey in three different dates. The Artist visiting a large part of Anatolia especially Istanbul as a guest of the French embassy, has made many engravings during travel. There are pictures that are evaluated especially within the topographic landscape type among the engravings. Apart from this, it is possible to see details from monumental structures and scenes of daily life in engravings. These engravings by Flandin were published in Paris between 1853-67 with the paintings he made on his trip to the East with the name LleOrient. The paintings, which consist of four tomes, are among the most striking examples of Romantic Eastern conception. In some of his works, while encountered a photographic accuracy, some of his works seem to be influenced mostly by the movements in the European art scene, especially by Orientalism.