Collections | Music, Literature, Dance and Fashion | Literature | Orientalism in the West and in the East [10 Objects]

Change your selection


Related Content

Introduction to the Chapter

One Thousand and One Nights: Arabic fairytales tanslated by Galland, illustrated by the best French artists…

1875

National Library of France

Paris, France

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

The mysterious “East” captured the European imagination for many decades. A decisive role was played by translations of popular folk tales from Arabic, first into French, then into English and other European languages.

Théâtre de l'Opéra. 'Aida'. Avenue of the sphinxes at the gates of Thebes (act 2 scene 2)

1880

National Library of France

France

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

Popular interest in the “East” and its ancient history opened the way for many musical productions centred on famous historic personalities where focus was on the romantic, human dimension of history. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aïda is one such manifestation.

Théâtre de l'Opéra. 'Aida'. The banks of the Nile (act 3). Set by Jean-Louis Chéret

1880

National Library of France

France

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

Popular interest in the “East” and its ancient history opened the way for many musical productions centred on famous historic personalities where focus was on the Romantic, human dimension of history. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aïda is one such manifestation.

The Mandarin

1880

National Library of Portugal, Digital Library

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

Far Eastern cultures were documented as well, this book about China, written in Portuguese, was published in 1880 by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz.

The Mandarin

1880

National Library of Portugal, Digital Library

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

Constantinople

1883

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Istanbul, Turkey

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

A travel book about Constantinople (Istanbul) published in Paris by Colomb (1883). Advances in transport and books such as this encouraged more people to travel abroad.

Constantinople

1883

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Istanbul, Turkey

See Database Entry

Description of the Arab monuments of Granada, Seville and Córdoba: the Alhambra, the Alcazar and the Great Mosque

1885

National Museum of Decorative Arts

Madrid, Spain

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

Document of 1885 detailing the monuments of Arab Spain: Granada (Alhambra), Seville (Alcázar) and Córdoba (the Great Mosque). This and other books like it contributed to an understanding of the significance of these monuments and consequently to their preservation.

The Relic: On the Harsh Nakedness of Truth – the Diaphanous Mantle of Fantasy

1887

National Library of Portugal, Digital Library

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

One result of Orientalism was that it fuelled popular and scholarly interest in the social and cultural history of the “East”. Inventories and properly documented studies contributed greatly to the preservation of material cultural history.

King Solomon’s Mines

1891

National Library of Portugal, Digital Library

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

With advances in transportation and communication more people travelled and a new literary genre appeared: the travel book. In these, authors described remote places and related some incredible stories, some based in fact and some fictional. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines (1885) was translated from English to Portuguese by Eça de Queiroz and serialised in the journal he founded, Revista de Portugal.

King Solomon’s Mines

1891

National Library of Portugal, Digital Library

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

Design for book cover: Tres morillas me enamoran

1910–1936

National Museum of Decorative Arts

Madrid, Spain

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

The “Orient” is reflected in the arches and the clothes and generally in the decoration of this book cover, which was produced in Spain towards the end of the 19th century.

Design for book cover: Tres morillas me enamoran

1910–1936

National Museum of Decorative Arts

Madrid, Spain

See Database Entry

Histoire de la Princesse Boudour (Conte des mille et une nuits), Translation by J.C. Mardrus of The Story of the Princess Boudour: Tales of a Thousand and One Nights

Paris: F.L. Schmied, 1926

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

Lisbon, Portugal

See Database Entry

 Justification for this item

Translations of tales from the Arabian Nights played a decisive role in fuelling European Romanticism. The mysterious and exquisite “East” fired the imaginations of European intellectuals in the fields of art, music and literature.

Change your selection


Related Content

Introduction to the Chapter