Frank Brangwyn made this etching from a drawing he made in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) c. 1896. 70 proofs of the etching were made before the plate was destroyed.
A part cut from this plate showing the group of figures around the well was printed in 1919 as a separate etching, ‘The Turkish Well’ (‘Un Puits Turc’) 15 x 21 cm. with the addition of a different background showing houses with arcaded facades.
The view shows Santa Sophia, built in 532-7 during the reign of the Emperor Justinian it was one of the most famous of Byzantine churches; it was turned into a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453.
