Portrait of Artin Boghos Eramian Agha (c. 1800-1870s). His father, Boghos-Berge Artin Eramian, was the first to settle in Pano Dheftera, where he bought a piece of land about 500 donums. In this extensive farm he cultivated cotton, olives, wheat and barley, apricots and vegetables. He also bred race horses (information by Berge Eramian-Kouyoumdjian, who is the owner of the painting). Artin Boghos Eramian was one of the eight children of Boghos-Berge, who established a Cypriot Armenian “dynasty”.
In his portrait Artin is depicted seated on a divan (sofa) with his right hand leaning on a long cushion made of a dark blue fabric with broad white stripes ornamented with curvilinear patterns. Next to him on the other side is a wooden table with two drawers on the front side. Both are provided with a gold/metallic knob, decorated with a rosette, similar to those of the drawer on the front side of the table depicted in Hairabed Melikian’s portrait.
On the table are standing two identical, almost spherical small vases, made of a turquoise/blue glass with a golden ring around their rim and base. From one vase protrudes the feather of a quill pen, while another feather is lying on the table. Artin is wearing an Ottoman-style dress, consisting of several layers of garments worn one on top of the other. The white shirt with a collar is closed at the neck, while the edges of its long sleeves are visible under the top overcoat.
Over the shirt he is wearing a luxurious waistcoat made of a striped fabric. The waistcoat is closed with a series of 17 white buttons, from the neckline down to the waist, around which is wrapped a dark-coloured sash. The buttons are shown prominently on a bright blue stripe, and there are more vertical stripes in different colours (red, yellow, white). Only part of the waistcoat is visible at the front opening of the two overcoats that follow. The inner one is made of blue fabric and lined or trimmed with brown fur, while the top overcoat is a black djouppe (cüppe)/cübbe = gown) with wide sleeves.
On his head Artin is wearing a tall fez (fessin) with two short black tassels, one on its top and the other hanging on the left side. The white line around its base indicates that it was worn over a terlik, a white cloth skullcap to absorb sweat. Artin is facing the spectator with the vivid glance of his brown eyes under thick arched eyebrows. He has a prominent nose and a rich moustache ending in curves. The wrinkles on his face, particularly around the eyes, indicate a mature person, as he was about 50 years old. Simple golden rings are shown on one finger of each hand. In his left hand he holds a white panel, on which is written in calligraphic letters: “Artin B. Geremia (sic) / 1 7 Nic.”.
From his right hand is hanging a long rosary with a series of yellowish transparent beads, probably amber (kehribar). On the blue and white cover of the divan is written in black calligraphic letters the name of the painter, “C. Tachiatzy”, and beneath it the date 1850. Undoubtedly, this is the name of Constantinos Takkatzis, a well-known artist from the Ionian islands, who was staying in Cyprus at that time and painted also the portraits of other famous personalities, like that of Maria Pieraki in 1845, of Chelepi Yiangos, son of the Dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Cornesios, in 1852, and of his wife Iouliani in 1851. Most of the background in Artin’s portrait is covered with a heavy brown (velvet?) curtain, which is hanging and gathered on the right side; its golden fringes are visible behind the shoulder of Artin on the other side. At a distance at the far back is depicted a rural landscape, fields with trees, and further back at the horizon a series of mountains. The countryside most probably depicts Pano Dheftera, where Artin Boghos Eramian Agha lived with his family and prospered. A pale sunlight at the lower part of a blue sky completes the scenery at the background of this interesting oil painting.
