Jules-Georges PASCAL (c.1858-1923) Behind the Christian basilica “Sainte Sophie” in Istanbul (Turkey). Oil on canvas signed & dated « Pascal Jules 1890 » bottom right. Brother of the painter Paul Pascal (1832-39 / 1903-05) known as Orientalist watercolourist. Paul Pascal has 126 auction sales up to 3500 € for a 1897 gouache 44x60cm or 3470 € for a watercolour 44x70cm. “Sainte Sophie” means "wisdom of God" or "divine wisdom", taken up in Turkish in Ayasofya. In Istanbul, on the west side of the Bosphorus, it was originally a Christian basilica in Constantinople, built in the 4th century, then rebuilt larger in the 6th century, under the Byzantine emperor Justinian. Mosque in the 15th century under Mehmet II. In 1934, it lost its status as a place of worship to become a museum, by decision of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Hagia Sophia regains its status as a mosque in 2020.