'The most interesting of all the diplomatic corps in London' — Statesmen No. 73

Carlo Pellegrini ('Ape') presents a figure whose identity the caption withholds by name but signals through dress: a Western frock coat and bow tie paired with a red fez, the headgear of Ottoman officialdom. The chromolithograph exaggerates a broad, heavy-jowled face with a reddish beard, the head enlarged in Pellegrini's characteristic manner to dwarf the body beneath. The combination of European suiting with Eastern hat reflected the Ottoman Empire's Tanzimat reforms, which produced diplomats who straddled both worlds. Pellegrini's characteristic style amplifies physiognomy in the manner typical of mid-nineteenth-century satirical portraiture.