The fortune teller
Fausto Zonaro, an Italian painter who became the favorite artist of the Ottoman Sultan, was obsessed with capturing real life in Constantinople. In this scene, a man wearing a red fez crouches down to listen to a fortune teller sitting on the ground, her finger tracing his destiny on a small board. Stray dogs nap in the background, adding a touch of gritty realism to the dusty street. Zonaro was famous for ditching the exotic fantasies of other 'Orientalist' painters to show the city exactly as it looked.
Views: 12