Count Amadeo Preziosi (Maltese, 1816-1882)

The Fountain of Ahmed III, situated in front of the Bab-i Hümayün, the Imperial Gateway to Topkapi, was built in 1728 by an unknown architect. The elaborate structure, built in the style of the Tulip period, the lale devrisi, is one of only a handful of Sultan Ahmed's buildings to have survived. It is perhaps the finest example of an Ottoman fountain, closely rivalled by another fountain also commissioned by this Sultan at Tophane. It was decorated with painted carving and elaborate calligraphy, the inscriptions including a poem about water and a chronogram written by the Sultan. The particular interest of this drawing is that it shows in what colours the details of the fountain were painted in the 1840s.