1742-43
Oil on canvas, 46 x 64 cm
Private collection
The painting is part of a set of forty-three representing Turkish subjects painted in 1742-43 for Field Marshal Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg. The scene shows the Armenian priest Dergoumidas condemned to death by the Grand Vizier Ali Pascia for having converted to Catholicism; an episode which actually took place on 5 November 1707. It is a symbol of Turkish cruelty.
