The National Palaces Museum of Painting, located in the Apartment of the Heir Apparent (Veliaht Dairesi) of Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace, opened to visitors in 2014. The museum reflects the tradition of painting that developed around the Ottoman court and the growth of painting collections in Türkiye from the Ottoman era to the Republican period. Its collection spans a wide range, from portraits of Ottoman sultans to orientalist works, from paintings by palace artists to works by Republican-era painters, and today comprises more than 500 pieces.

^{The National Palaces Museum of Painting (T.C. Milli Saraylar Başkanlığı)}

History

The origins of the National Palaces Museum of Painting lie in the Apartment of the Heir Apparent of Dolmabahçe Palace. Commissioned by Sultan Abdülmecid in the mid-19th century, Dolmabahçe Palace was the first grand palace constructed by the Ottoman sultans on the Bosphorus after leaving Topkapı Palace. Completed in 1855, the Apartment of the Heir Apparent was designed as the residence of princes preparing to ascend the throne. Sultan Abdülaziz, Sultan Murad V, Sultan Abdülhamid II, Sultan Mehmed V Reşad, Prince Yusuf Izzeddin, Sultan Mehmed VI, and Caliph Abdülmecid all lived in this apartment during their crown prince years.

In the Republican period, the apartment was used for various purposes. After remaining closed for many years, it underwent an extensive restoration process. Following nearly seven years of work, the building was reorganized according to contemporary museology standards and opened to the public on 22 March 2014 as the National Palaces Museum of Painting. The inaugural exhibition featured 200 works selected from the National Palaces Painting Collection and the Topkapı Palace Museum Collection.

Between 2014 and 2020, the museum’s collection was enriched further, expanding with works transferred from Topkapı Palace and Yıldız Palace. The number of paintings on display reached 553, while the number of thematic sections increased from 11 to 34. The collection now spans a period of five centuries, from the 16th to the 20th century, and includes notable works by artists such as Osman Hamdi Bey, Fausto Zonaro, Ivan Aivazovsky, Şeker Ahmet Paşa, Süleyman Seyyid, İbrahim Çallı, and Caliph Abdülmecid Efendi.

Architectural Features

The Apartment of the Heir Apparent is a typical example of the Westernization trends that shaped Ottoman architecture in the second half of the 19th century. As with the rest of the palace, its design bears the architectural imprint of the Balyan family. The outer walls are built of finely cut stone, the inner walls of brick, while the floors and roof structure are wooden, with a lead covering on the roof.

The decorative program, influenced by Baroque style, employs various types of stone: Haznedar limestone, Şile and Kandıra sandstone, Sarıyer stone, and Karamürsel stone, which add diversity to the façades and interior arrangements. For the columns, capitals, bases, pediments, and ceremonial gates, Marmara marble was chosen.

^{Interior of the National Palaces Museum of Painting (T.C. Milli Saraylar Başkanlığı)}

The layout consists of rooms opening onto halls connected by corridors. The distances of the side halls from the central hall are unequal, creating an asymmetrical arrangement. One hall follows the “closed central hall” plan type. Connected to the harem garden, the apartment forms the fourth largest section of Dolmabahçe Palace. On the exterior, dynamism is achieved through triangular pediments crowning the central projections, while the decoration is more modest compared to the palace’s more opulent sections.

During restoration, original details and materials were preserved. Stucco wall coverings, woodwork, and stone ornamentation were carefully renewed in accordance with contemporary museum practices.

Collections

Formed with works from Topkapı Palace, Yıldız Palace, and the National Palaces Painting Collection, the museum’s holdings span nearly five centuries, from the 16th to the 20th century. The main sections of the collection include:

• Sultan Abdülmecid and Sultan Abdülaziz Hall: Portraits and paintings dedicated to the first residents of the palace, reflecting their era.

• Portraits and Historical Compositions / Landscapes at the Ottoman Court: A wide selection ranging from sultans’ portraits to landscape paintings.

^{Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, the First Siege of Vienna (Photo: Nazlı Kemerkaya)}

• Westernization in the Ottoman Empire Hall: Works by international artists reflecting social, political, and military transformations. Among them is François Dubois’ painting The Parade of the Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye.

• Palace Painters: Works by Fausto Zonaro, Stanislaw Chlebowski, and other official court painters.

• Orientalist Painters: Paintings interpreting the East through the lens of Western aesthetics.

• Soldier-Painters: Works by Şeker Ahmet Paşa, Osman Nuri Paşa, and other military artists.

• Turkish Painters: Paintings by Osman Hamdi Bey, Süleyman Seyyid, Hikmet Onat, Diyarbakırlı Tahsin, and İbrahim Çallı.

• Abdülmecid Efendi Hall: Works reflecting Caliph Abdülmecid Efendi’s studio, personal taste, and collecting practices.

• Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky Hall: Dramatic seascapes by the renowned Russian painter.

^{Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky Stormy Sea (Photo: Nazlı Kemerkaya)}

• Special Thematic Halls: Sections such as The Ottoman State (Devlet-i Aliyye), Turkish Bath Culture, Ottoman Splendour, Ottoman Women, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Wars and Victories, Conquest and the Conqueror, Painters of the Enderûn, Ottoman Bureaucracy, Portraits, and Çanakkale (Gallipoli).

The museum’s most striking work is Félix-Auguste Clément’s Prince Halim Hunting Gazelles in the Gatah Desert: Greyhounds’ Share, known as the largest Orientalist painting in Türkiye.