Masterpiece Story: The Tortoise Trainer by Osman Hamdi Bey

Shaping an Enlightened Ottoman World

The Tortoise Trainer was created in 1906 by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910). Influenced by his legal studies and extended stay in Paris during his artistic training, he drew inspiration from the academic salon painting style prevalent there, known for its historical and allegorical subjects, large formats, and heightened realism.

As a museum founder, archaeologist, and art educator, Hamdi Bey created works that reflected his vision of a culturally enlightened and identity-shaping Ottoman state. His art was presumably never purely decorative or mythological like that of many salon painters of his time, but arguably carried a strong civilizational and educational message.

The Tortoise Trainer

The painting was first exhibited in 1906 at a Parisian Salon. Later, Hamdi Bey produced variations of the motif, including a 1907 version dedicated to his late father-in-law. It wasn’t until two years after his death that the painting received public attention in the Ottoman Empire, when it was published as a black-and-white print in the journal Osmanlı Ressamlar Cemiyeti Gazetesi.

Osman Hamdi Bey did not see himself as a politician but as a cultural reformer. The elderly man with the ney flute, hands clasped behind his back, leaning over docile turtles, is often seen as a self-portrait—a scholar patiently attempting to inspire a hesitant and divided society through art and education. This interpretation is supported by art historian Wendy M. K. Shaw and by texts from the Pera Museum in Istanbul, where the work is housed today.

However, historical certainty remains elusive. Some historians, such as Edhem Eldem, argue that Osman Hamdi Bey himself never claimed an allegorical meaning—the metaphor of training or education emerged only posthumously.

In the politically polarized years following the Ottoman era, the painting was received differently by traditionalists and Kemalists. Some viewed the central figure as a metaphor for the state, attempting—like the trainer—to educate a resistant population. Others saw it as a critique of the Ottoman system’s inertia, incapable of accelerating progress. Both readings, however, go beyond the artist’s likely intent.

Enduring Fame

The painting’s current popularity is closely tied to its market value. In 1990, it was acquired by businessman Erol Aksoy for $700,000. In 2004, it was resold for $3.5 million, becoming at that time the highest price ever achieved for a painting of Turkish origin, purchased by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation.

Whether or not any constitutional meaning was intended, his cultural sensitivity consistently revealed itself through his advocacy for artistic and archaeological education. There is no denying that Osman Hamdi Bey understood the Ottoman zeitgeist and distilled it through his most celebrated artwork.

Author’s bio:

Merlin Geller is a writer/artist based in Southern Germany. He always found himself deeply inspired by paintings and their implications. Using them to enrich his poems and short stories by exhibiting philosophical rigor. His first major novella is currently in the process of publication.