Fausto Zonaro

Born September 18, 1854 in Masi and died in 1929 in Sanremo, he was an Italian painter.He is known for his portraits, landscapes and historical paintings. He contributed to the development of Western style in Türkiye. Most of his works are kept in Istanbul.He is the eldest child of Maurizio, a mason, and his wife Elisabetta Bertoncin. Maurizio wanted his son to also be a mason, but from an early age, Fausto showed great drawing skills. With the consent of his parents, he enrolled first at the Technical Institute of Lendinara, then at the Cignaroli Academy in Verona, following the courses of Napoleone Nani. Fausto opened a small school and art studio in Venice, but he also traveled often to Naples.He actively exhibited his works and gained the respect of critics. He mainly paints genre scenes in oil paint and watercolor.Zonaro's career changed in 1891, when he fell in love with the photographer Elisabetta Pante (1863-1946), one of his students in Venice. They travel together to Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, inspired by the travel diary Constantinopoli by Edmondo de Amicis.In 1892, Zonaro and Pante married and lived in the Pera district of Constantinople.Over time, he expanded his knowledge in the aristocratic circles of Constantinople. While teaching painting to the wife of Munir Pasha, Minister of Protocol, Zonaro and Pante met important artistic figures of Constantinople of the time, including Osman Hamdi Bey.In 1896, he was appointed court painter to Sultan Abdulhamid II, thanks to the intervention of Alexander Nelidov, Russian ambassador, who had presented Zonaro's work to the sultan, which he then purchased.