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In the late 18th century, the Ottoman Empire, the domestic power of the Muslim "ruler of all believers" with today's Turkey as its heartland, was no longer the anti-Christian spectre of past centuries - since the defeat at the gates of Vienna in 1683, the giant empire had begun to crumble militarily, morally and politically. Nevertheless, it remained a foreign, exotic world, closed to most Europeans, about which there were more rumours and legends than facts in circulation. It was reserved for a few contemporaries to report from "Turkey" in words and pictures; among them was the painter, draughtsman and illustrator Luigi Mayer.
Luigi Mayer was virtually predestined to look beyond the cultural horizon: as his name suggests, he was the son of an Italian mother and a German father. He was born in Rome in 1755, trained by the renowned engraver Piranesi and made drawings of the antiquities on the island of Sicily. His client was Ferdinand, King of Naples (which included Sicily until 1869).
In 1776 Mayer began his second career: In Istanbul he was joined by Sir Robert Ainslie, then British Ambassador at the "High Gate", who from then on financed his educational and working trips throughout the entire Ottoman Empire - combined with the task of providing the ambassador with impressions. For Ainslie was not only a career diploma, he was highly interested in the Ottoman Empire. And so Luigi Mayer travelled for almost sixteen years, until 1792, through landscapes as diverse as Egypt, Bulgaria, Palestine, Rhodes, Romania, Syria or Cyprus - because all these countries were still under the control of the Sultan in Constantinople at that time. By the way, Bulgaria and Romania were on the route from Ainslies' homeward journey to England.
Mayer's Oriental paintings and drawings became very popular in Great Britain from 1800 onwards - perhaps also because "the Turks" were temporarily among England's allies against Napoleon - were "lithographed" and appeared as an illustrated book with annotations in three different languages: English, German and Italian. It was only these comments that made the "Mayer Collection" a bestseller, because without explanations some of the illustrations would simply have remained alien to the viewer. For Mayer had not only painted temples, palaces or mosques. He had also dealt with the everyday life of ordinary people, with their traditional costumes and social customs, including profession and trade.
Mayer died in 1803 at the age of 48; the strenuous traveling life may have taken its toll. A year earlier Sir Robert Ainslie had ended his political career as a Member of Parliament for the county of Somerset. Mayer's paintings hang in the museums of various nations, his collection of drawings is now in the British Museum.
In the late 18th century, the Ottoman Empire, the domestic power of the Muslim "ruler of all believers" with today's Turkey as its heartland, was no longer the anti-Christian spectre of past centuries - since the defeat at the gates of Vienna in 1683, the giant empire had begun to crumble militarily, morally and politically. Nevertheless, it remained a foreign, exotic world, closed to most Europeans, about which there were more rumours and legends than facts in circulation. It was reserved for a few contemporaries to report from "Turkey" in words and pictures; among them was the painter, draughtsman and illustrator Luigi Mayer.
Luigi Mayer was virtually predestined to look beyond the cultural horizon: as his name suggests, he was the son of an Italian mother and a German father. He was born in Rome in 1755, trained by the renowned engraver Piranesi and made drawings of the antiquities on the island of Sicily. His client was Ferdinand, King of Naples (which included Sicily until 1869).
In 1776 Mayer began his second career: In Istanbul he was joined by Sir Robert Ainslie, then British Ambassador at the "High Gate", who from then on financed his educational and working trips throughout the entire Ottoman Empire - combined with the task of providing the ambassador with impressions. For Ainslie was not only a career diploma, he was highly interested in the Ottoman Empire. And so Luigi Mayer travelled for almost sixteen years, until 1792, through landscapes as diverse as Egypt, Bulgaria, Palestine, Rhodes, Romania, Syria or Cyprus - because all these countries were still under the control of the Sultan in Constantinople at that time. By the way, Bulgaria and Romania were on the route from Ainslies' homeward journey to England.
Mayer's Oriental paintings and drawings became very popular in Great Britain from 1800 onwards - perhaps also because "the Turks" were temporarily among England's allies against Napoleon - were "lithographed" and appeared as an illustrated book with annotations in three different languages: English, German and Italian. It was only these comments that made the "Mayer Collection" a bestseller, because without explanations some of the illustrations would simply have remained alien to the viewer. For Mayer had not only painted temples, palaces or mosques. He had also dealt with the everyday life of ordinary people, with their traditional costumes and social customs, including profession and trade.
Mayer died in 1803 at the age of 48; the strenuous traveling life may have taken its toll. A year earlier Sir Robert Ainslie had ended his political career as a Member of Parliament for the county of Somerset. Mayer's paintings hang in the museums of various nations, his collection of drawings is now in the British Museum.
.jpg "Ruins of the Grand Aqueduct of Ancient Carthage, Tunisia, 1803 by Luigi Mayer")
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 pub by Robert Bowyer (1758-1834) 1802 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-166795).jpg "Interior View of the Catacombs at Alexandria, plate 11 from")
 pub by Robert Bowyer (1758-1834) 1802 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-166795).jpg)
.jpg "Chamber and Sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid of Gizah, plate 6 from")
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_in_Alexandria_-_(MeisterDrucke-1110656).jpg "The Obelisk (Cleopatra")
_in_Alexandria_-_(MeisterDrucke-1110656).jpg)
.jpg "Ruins of the Grand Aqueduct of Ancient Carthage, plate 23 from")
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.jpg "The Fountain of Siloah, Jerusalem, pub. by William Watts, 1801 by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Subterranean Chamber Near the Pyramids at Geeza, Plate 9 from")
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.jpg "The Grotto of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Published by William Watts, 1802 by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Village of Betania with a View of the Dead Sea by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Bethlehem in Palestine, View of the Principal Part of The City with the Arabia Petraea Mountains, from")
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.jpg "Bridge over Alexandria Canal, Engraving by Luigi Mayer by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Mamluks Exercising in the Square of Murad Bey")
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.jpg "Cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem - in")
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.jpg "The Dance of the Bulgarian Peasants by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Western Harbour of the Island of Samos, plate 60 from Views in the Ottoman Dominions, pub. by R. Bowyer, 1810 by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Top of the First Pyramid of Gizah, plate 4 from")
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 pub by Robert Bowyer (1758-1834) 1802 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-201518).jpg "Passage from the Second to the Third Gallery in the Great Pyramid, plate 5 from")
 pub by Robert Bowyer (1758-1834) 1802 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-201518).jpg)
.jpg "Istanbul")
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.jpg "Jerusalem with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, plate 3 from")
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.jpg "Interior of Temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Tomb of Jeremiah, pub. by William Watts by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Mosque of Sultan Achmet at Constantinople, Plate 2 from")
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_Watercolour_on_pa_-_(MeisterDrucke-995243).jpg "The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople by Luigi Mayer by Luigi Mayer")
_Watercolour_on_pa_-_(MeisterDrucke-995243).jpg)
.jpg "The Ruins of the Gymnasium Near the Canopic Gate in Alexandria by Luigi Mayer")
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_f_-_(MeisterDrucke-1109687).jpg "Underground Chamber of Pyramid of Giza, from Views in Egypt, Palestine and Other Parts of Ottoman Empire by Luigi Mayer")
_f_-_(MeisterDrucke-1109687).jpg)
.jpg "Island of Tortosa, in Syria, from")
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.jpg "Temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya by Luigi Mayer")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-207532).jpg "Aqueduct Near Belgrade, Serbia, Plate 6 from")
 - (MeisterDrucke-207532).jpg)
.jpg "Egypt, Alexandria, Granite pillars of portico of Canopus by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Tombs of the Kings of Judah, Jerusalem by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Cleopatra")
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.jpg "Principal Square in Grand Cairo, with Murad Bey")
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.jpg "Egypt, Alexandria, Pompey")
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.jpg "Arab dwelling built on ancient ruins along the Menuf canal in Egypt, engraving from Views in Egypt by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Holy Sepulchre, pub. by William Watts, 1806 by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Port of Latachia, in Syria, from")
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.jpg "Chapel of Mount Calvary, in Jerusalem by Luigi Mayer")
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 1809 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-173860).jpg "Pera, plate 3 from")
 1809 (aquatint) - (MeisterDrucke-173860).jpg)
.jpg "Sphinx Head in Egypt from Views in Egypt by Luigi Mayer, Engraving by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Top of First Pyramid of Giza, Engraving from \"Views\" of Luigi Mayer by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Ruins of Ancient Temple, Engraving by Luigi Mayer by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Roman Triumphal Arch, Latachia in Syria, from")
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.jpg "Subterranean Church of Bethlehem, from")
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.jpg "Stromboli Island, Crater by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Borgas Caravanserai by Luigi Mayer")
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_from_-_(MeisterDrucke-1104128).jpg "Tombs of Arabian Saints at Rosetta, engraving, by Luigi Mayer, from Views in Egypt, Palestine and Other Parts of Ottoman Empire by Luigi Mayer")
_from_-_(MeisterDrucke-1104128).jpg)
.jpg "Sarcophagi and Sepulchres at the Head of the Harbour at Cacamo, from")
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.jpg "Temple of Esculapius by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Stadium in Ruin at Ephesus Formerly Ancient City of Greece, Today in Turkey. In")
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.jpg "View of Jerusalem taken from Mount of Olives - engraving by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Tomb of Absalom, Jerusalem, pub. by William Watts by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "View of an Ancient Temple at Agrigentum by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Grotto of the Nativity, Jerusalem by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Temple of Solomon, plate 63 from")
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.jpg "Interior of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, near Alexandria, plate 71 from")
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.jpg "The Obelisks at Alexandria, Called Cleopatra")
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.jpg "The Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Principal Street in Bethlehem, from")
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_1806_-_(MeisterDrucke-320749).jpg "Monument between Tripoli and Tortosa, engraved by William Watts, 1806 by Luigi Mayer")
_1806_-_(MeisterDrucke-320749).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1104178).jpg "Nomads and the obelisk at Materieh (Old Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun) by Luigi Mayer")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1104178).jpg)
.jpg "An Ancient Sarcophagus of Basaltes, called the Lovers")
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.jpg "Castle in the Island of Torosa by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Cairo Gate by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Mamelukes Exercising in the Square of Mourad Bey")
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.jpg "Granite columns from the ancient portico in Alexandria by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Entrance to burial chamber at Sphinx of Giza, engraving, by Luigi Mayer, from Views in Egypt, Palestine and Other Parts of Ottoman Empire by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Basalt Sarcophagus Called The Lovers Fountain by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Ponte Piccolo in Romania, plate 9 from")
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.jpg "The Remains of the Temple of Hera in Samos by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "A Sarcophagus from the Tombs of the Kings, Jerusalem, pub. by William Watts by Luigi Mayer")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-157849).jpg "The Base of a Colossal Column near Syracuse, plate 28 from")
 - (MeisterDrucke-157849).jpg)
.jpg "Passage from the Second to the Third Gallery in the Great Pyramid at Giza by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "View of Constantinople, Plate 1 from")
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.jpg "Figures in Egyptian Tombs by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Tombs of Great Arab Saints in the Neighborhood of Rosetta, Egypt by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Port of Latachia by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Church and Convent of Saint Mary, Turkey. Views in the Ottoman Dominions, in Europe, in Asia, and some of the Mediterranean islands from the original drawings taken by Luigi Mayer, London by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "View of the City of Bethlehem. In")
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.jpg "A Bey Eminence in Cairo by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Room and Sarcophagus of Great Pyramid of Giza, Engraving from \"Views\" of Luigi Mayer by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "The Camp at Daud-Pascia, Published by William Watts, 1806 by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Santa Maria Convent, Greece, 19th Century (engraving) by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Mameluke Practice in Front of the Palace of Mourad Bey in Cairo by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Temple of Castor and Pollux by Luigi Mayer")
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_from_Views_in_Egypt_by_Luigi_Mayer_e_-_(MeisterDrucke-1103984).jpg "View of the Catacombs at Alexandria from Views in Egypt by Luigi Mayer, Engraving by Luigi Mayer")
_from_Views_in_Egypt_by_Luigi_Mayer_e_-_(MeisterDrucke-1103984).jpg)
.jpg "Base of Monumental Column, Sicily, Illustration from Views of Italy by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Egypt, Alexandria, Ruins of Ptolemy Library by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Aqueduct Near Belgrade by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "A street in Istanbul - in")
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.jpg "Ancient Temple by Luigi Mayer")
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_engraving_from_Ve_-_(MeisterDrucke-1107981).jpg "Ancient Walls and Obelisk of Cleopatra, Luigi Mayer, Engraving from Vedute by Luigi Mayer")
_engraving_from_Ve_-_(MeisterDrucke-1107981).jpg)
.jpg "View of the Nilometer, plate 2 from")
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.jpg "An Egyptian Bey, Plate 41 from")
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.jpg "Fountain of Siloam, Near Jerusalem by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "Pompey")
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.jpg "Bridge Over the Canal in Alexandria by Luigi Mayer")
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.jpg "A Triumphal Arch of Tripoli in Barbary, plate 24 from")
.jpg "Joseph")
.jpg "Ruins of an aqueduct near Ephesus by Luigi Mayer")
.jpg "Jerusalem from the West, pub. by William Watts, 1805 by Luigi Mayer")