Jean Brindesi (1826 - 1888)

Jean Brindesi

Jean Brindesi was an Italian-born Turkish watercolorist.

Brindesi lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Abdülmekids (1831-1861) and worked mainly as a watercolorist but also did lithography. In Paris in 1855, the first album of lithographs based on his drawings was published, featuring Turkish statesmen and military figures and their costumes. And in the second, entitled "Souvenirs of Constantinople" (1855-60), Jean Brindesi conveys the atmosphere of everyday life in Istanbul. The drawings in the second album are remarkable in that these genre scenes are depicted by a local artist who knew the intricacies of these subjects.

The originals of these works are kept in the Topkapi Palace Museum and Istanbul University.