The painting by William Simpson shows the Scutari graveyard in its early form, before any attempt at formal layout or uniformity. The graves vary widely in type, ranging from simple wooden crosses to more substantial stone vaults. A funeral procession approaches from the right, while the gravediggers in the foreground are Muslim and shown praying toward Mecca. Behind the cemetery stands the military hospital at Scutari, later associated with Florence Nightingale.
The cemetery itself lies in the Haidar Pasha district on the Asiatic side of Istanbul, between Scutari (Üsküdar) and Kadıköy. Positioned on the heights above the Sea of Marmara, it was established for British soldiers who died during the Crimean War, most of them victims of the cholera epidemic that swept through the military hospital at the Selimiye Barracks. Around 6,000 soldiers died in the barracks hospital during the conflict.
The land used for the cemetery originally consisted of two separate parcels donated by the Ottoman Government to the British Government in 1855. A further grant in 1867 connected the two areas. From that date the cemetery was also made available for British civilian burials, and a separate section was set aside for them. In addition to the Crimean War graves, the cemetery contains graves of Commonwealth personnel from both World Wars, as well as British civilians who died in Istanbul.
Near the entrance stands the German‑Jäger memorial, a broken column commemorating members of the British German Legion who died during the Crimean War. The double‑headed eagle carved on the memorial reflects the coat of arms of the German Confederation between 1848 and 1866. The Legion, raised under Major General Richard von Stutterheim, saw little or no action before being disbanded in 1856. Many of its members were later resettled in the Eastern Cape Colony in South Africa.
Near the entrance stands the German‑Jäger memorial, a broken column commemorating members of the British German Legion who died during the Crimean War. The double‑headed eagle carved on the monument reflects the coat of arms of the German Confederation between 1848 and 1866. The Legion, raised under Major General Richard von Stutterheim, saw little or no action before being disbanded in 1856, and many of its members were later resettled in the Eastern Cape Colony in South Africa.
