Our exotic and risqué watercolor, gouache and pastel, Profile of a Lady, is attributed to Paul C Musurus, or Mousouros (1841-1927), younger son of Kostaki Musurus Pasha, Ottoman diplomat and Ambassador to the court of Queen Victoria from 1850 to 1885. The Musurus were an influential Turkish Christian family at the heart of the historic Phanariot community made up of descendants of the original Greek aristocracy who remained after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Wealthy, urbane and highly educated (Kostaki translated Dante’s Divine Comedy into ancient Greek in 1883), the Musurus family moved easily through the halls of power and artistic salons of Fin de Siècle Europe. Paul, the artist of our picture, was a diplomat like his father, but also an accomplished painter, poet and musician. He is perhaps best known as the uncle and mentor of, Anna, Countess de Noailles, married into one of the oldest French aristocratic families and a scintillating figure of the French literary world at the beginning of the 20th century. All of the qualities that mingled in the blood of the Musurus family: refinement, rarity, sensuality and oriental mystique, are evident in the fine handling of our boudoir portrait of a glamorous and bejeweled odalisque. Framed by J. Pocker & Son. Condition: Excellent. Dimensions: Image, 4.5" x 5". Frame, 11.5" x 12".