Baskins, Cristelle L. Hafsids and Habsburgs in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Facing Tunis

An understudied but multi-dimensional figure, the Tunisian Hafsid king Muley al-Hassan (r.1526-43) has long deserved an entry in the Mediterranean world historiography.Cristelle Baskins aptly fills the gap with this painstakingly researched and artfully written study.At the centre of Baskins's investigation is a magnificent anonymous portrait of al-Hassan now on display in Versailles.Baskins seeks to identify the creator of this so-called Versailles portrait.As quickly becomes apparent, though, Hafsids and Habsburgs in the Early Modern Mediterranean is much more than a straightforward study to nail down the attribution of a portrait.This is a broader history of European-North African relations built around a matrix of art history and biography.Like any good investigator, Baskins knows that a question of attribution and identity requires a deep familiarity with geographical, social, and political contexts as well as an intimate acquaintance with dramatis personae.With that premise, Baskins takes the reader on a journey retracing her search for the painter of the Versailles portrait.As the clich goes, the trip proves more fulfilling than the destination.While Baskins arrives at a compelling guess for the Versailles portrait's creator, she never finds sure evidence linking a single person to the painting.But on Baskins's path, the reader learns about Muley al-Hassan's dramatic fall from power at the hands of his treasonous eldest son, his two sojourns in Europe, and his afterlife as a subject in European historical writing and mythmaking.Thus, the question Baskins originally poses becomes an entryway into a bigger Hafsid Mediterranean world.In chapter 1, which doubles as the book's introduction, Baskins introduces Muley al-Hassan.From the outset, it is clear that Baskins intends to make al-Hassan the protagonist, and his counterpart Charles V a minor, if important, character.This choice, expressed on the very first page, is a deliberate, corrective inversion of the historiographical norm.The first chapter also introduces the central problem: the lack of known evidence attributing the Versailles portrait or even placing its production in a particular city or region.With an attitude