Most likely painted during Gentile Bellini´s two-year sojourn at the court of Mehmet II in Istanbul, this portrait identifies the sultan as Victor Orbis, Conqueror of the World. Fittingly, an arch—the universal symbol of triumph—surrounds the sitter, who is dressed in a red kaftan, a dark brown fur mantle, and a voluminous white turban carefully wrapped around a red taj, his signature headdress and a mark of his status as a Muslim. Despite its relatively poor condition and extensive retouching, the painting remains essential to our understanding of the sultan´s self-image. At the same time, it confirms Gentile Bellini´s status as un buon depentor che sepia retrazer (an excellent painter who knows how to make a portrait).