VECCHIA, Pietro della
(b. ca. 1602, Venezia, d. 1678, Venezia)

Profile of a Barbary Pirate

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Oil on canvas, 83 x 65 cm
Private collection

The sitter in this painting has been traditionally identified as Barbarossa, bey of Algiers. The Barbarossa brothers, Aruj and Khair-ed-din, were Barbary pirates who led a fleet against the Spanish navy to recapture the Barbary Coast. This canvas likely depicts the younger brother, Khair-ed-din.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.