The Italian Humanist Paolo Giovio possessed several portraits of Ottoman sultans in his imposing collection which, as he explains in a famous scene in his Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium (1551), were copied from the miniatures presented by Barbarossa to Virginio Orini, two captains aligned under the same banner thanks to the Franco-Turkish alliance. Apart from its documentary value, this scene allows us to study a unique intercultural exchange – since, as is often forgotten, Orini was not content with simply receiving presents: he offered them as well. By first examining Giovio’s point of view, I will show that though he exhibits hostile prejudice against the Turks, these prejudices are above all rooted in an Italian patriotism. His portraits, which will be examined in greater detail in the second part of the article, attest to the same prejudice. Though he calls for an aesthetics of transparency, Giovio insists on the necessity of adapting his models to the Italian taste – in other words on the necessity of a “cultural translation”. By studying Giovio’s views on Oriental art and the manner in which he appropriates it, this article aims to contribute to an intercultural history of art, and, more generally, to the history of intercultural perceptions during the Renaissance.