An animated view of Constantinople- Jacob Jacobs (1812-1879)

Oil on panel
Signed and dated lower right: “Jacob Jacobs 1842.”

In this painting Jacob Jacobs depicted a picturesque view of Constantinople, showing us the old ruins of the former empire and giving us a glance at the contemporaneous state of the city. On the left side of the painting, in the background we can distinguish a solid fortress with newly built minarets. On the left we can see the city center with the Hagia Sophia, along with the open sea, filled with several big ships.
Jacob Jacobs was a Belgian landscape and seascape painter, mainly painting in a Romantic Style, with a preference for northern and oriental scenes.
Jacobs studied with Gustaf Wappers and Ferdinand de Braekeleer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He continued his studies in Leuven, where he was influenced by the works of Ludolf Bakhuizen and Adriaen van de Velde. In 1838 he left on a long sea voyage that would take him to Gibraltar, The North African coast, Egypt, the Dardanelles, Constantinople, Asiatic Turkey and Rhodes. During these travels he compiled two huge albums of drawings and notes that he would use for inspiration for the rest of his life. In 1845, he was one of the Belgian artists who provided illustrations for the ‘History of Belgium,’ by Hendrik Conscience.