Saladin
Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known to the western world as Salah ad-Din or Saladin (1137-93) was a 12th century Muslim Sultan and crusader. He is mainly known for defeating an army of Christian Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin and capturing Jerusalem in 1187. He was uniquely famous during this time period, both in his own lands and in the Western world, capturing the respect and admiration of even his greatest opponent, Richard the Lionheart. Saladin was skilled in warfare, politics, and diplomacy, and was known for his generosity and chivalry. There are unfortunately no contemporary images left of Saladin with the exception of some faded coinage. It’s important to note that this image of Saladin was NOT taken from life - it is a painting by Florentine artist Cristofano dell’Altissimo. The history of the painting is rather convoluted. Originally, a gallery of paintings of Great Men was painted by Paolo Giovio and housed in a purpose-built museum near Lake Como. Dell’Altissimo was commissioned by Cosimo I De Medici to make a set of personal copies of each of these paintings for his own home. It’s hard to tell where Giovio got his source material for this image, or if he painted it from his own imagination - it’s possible that this is a copy of some work lost to us now. Given that it was painted by a European, there may be trends toward making him look more fit for a European audience, although the extent of this is unclear. I believe it’s safe to say he looks like a modern day Iraqi man, which is the modern birthplace of Saladin. I still think it’s a lovely portrait and have been wanting to cover Saladin as that is my surname. If you’d like to support my work, please consider becoming a patron (link in bio) or purchasing a print or bookmark of my many works in the Etsy store - Etsy.com/Shop/RoyaltyNow.Left base: “Saladino” by Cristofano dell’Altissimo, public domain. Right base: iStock photo.Research Sources:
https://www.italianways.com/cristofano-dellaltissimo-the-genius-in-copies/https://www.worldhistory.org/Saladin/
What Did Saladin Look Like? Video.