Whirling Dervishes, Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c. 1720 - c. 1737

Whirling Dervishes, Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c. 1720 - c. 1737

oil on canvas, h 76cm × w 101cm × w 7.2kg More details

Dervishes occupied a special place in religiously tolerant Istanbul. Through prayer, music and ecstatic dance, they tried to enter into a trance and thus come into contact with Allah. Twice a week they performed this dance ceremony, which visitors were allowed to watch. Vanmour must have regularly sat in the gallery to study the whirling of the dervishes.

On display in room 1.3 Visit via the Music tour

Listen to audio fragment (from the multimedia tour)

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