Anonymous, Prince Miloš

Miloš Obrenović was the leader of the Second Serbian Uprising, which was proclaimed in Takovo on Palm Sunday 1815. After the uprising, Serbia’s situation was becoming more favourable. Already in 1830, the Ottoman sultan signed the Hatti-Sherif, the document which granted to Serbia autonomy and the status of a principality and confirmed the title of a hereditary prince that had already been granted to Miloš Obrenović. Prince Miloš had two reigns: the first until 1839, when he was forced to abdicate, and the second from 1858 until his death in 1860. This portrait was probably painted in honour of his second rise to power. The Prince is depicted in a ceremonial military outfit with a Turkish fez on his head and an Ottoman order awarded by the sultan on his chest. At the time when the portrait was painted, Serbia was still subordinated to Ottoman rule, which is also indicated by the depiction of the Aya Sophia mosque in Istanbul in its background.