Collections | Travelling | Visiting and “revisiting” the Orient | Photos of the “Orient” [15 Objects]

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Introduction to the Chapter

Woman in traditional dress, Jardin d'Essai

Musée Public National des Antiquités

Algiers, Algeria

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 Justification for this item

This photograph, showing an Algerian woman in a garden, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture.

Woman in traditional dress, Jardin d'Essai

Musée Public National des Antiquités

Algiers, Algeria

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Cairo: houses and gardens in the French quarter. Flaubert in the foreground

1852

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

In the later 19th century, photography became a convenient way for travellers to record their progress in foreign lands. This photograph of the French writer Gustave Flaubert is a type of souvenir shot that was popular with European tourists in the region.

British Soldiers Near Selimiye Barracks in Scutari Waiting to be Dispatched to Crimea

1854

Ömer M. Koç Collection

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

The British photographer James Robertson’s photographs of the Crimean War represent important documentation of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century. The Crimean War was the first war in history to be extensively covered by press correspondents.

Seated Berber woman (Nailiya)

1856-1859

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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 Justification for this item

Eduardo Álvarez Ardanuy, a captain of the Spanish Army, was a cartographer in Morocco for more than 30 years at the beginning of the 20th century. The photograph, taken during this 30-year period, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture and also the impact of their presence in the colonial period.

Seated Berber woman (Nailiya)

1856-1859

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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Berber woman (Nailiya) lying down

1856–1858

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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 Justification for this item

Eduardo Álvarez Ardanuy, a captain of the Spanish Army, was a cartographer in Morocco for more than 30 years at the beginning of the 20th century. The photograph, taken during this 30-year period, illustrates Europe’s fascination with Arab culture and also the impact of their presence in the colonial period.

Berber woman (Nailiya) lying down

1856–1858

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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Lithographs after the panoramic photograph taken by Robertson and Beato, Faust: Poligrafisch Illustrirte, Zeitschrift, 1857, Vienna

1857

Ömer M. Koç Collection

Istanbul, Turkey

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 Justification for this item

British photographer James Robertson is said to have been the first to take 360-degree panoramic photographs of Istanbul. The first panoramic image, taken in May 1854 from Beyazıt Tower, headquarters of the Ottoman War Ministry, consists of 12 separate photographs.

Harem

c. 1870

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

The harem held a fascination for many Western artists who travelled in the “Orient”.

Harem

c. 1870

National Library of France

Paris, France

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A Woman from Cairo

c. 1880

MIBACT | National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

The historical photos of Enrico Hillyer Giglioli’s archive were collected with the purpose of propagating diplomatic and commercial relations with Egypt. The “genre” images appear to be created ad hoc, in order to represent human diversities along a historical timeline.

A Woman from Cairo

c. 1880

MIBACT | National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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A Woman from Cairo

c. 1880

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

The image appears to show an ordinary Cairene woman. Although apparently an “incidental” shot, pictures like this one were generally staged to evoke a certain atmosphere. Orientalist painters often relied on such photographs to compose their canvases back home.

A Woman from Cairo

c. 1880

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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A Druse Bride from Lebanon

c. 1881

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

The lives of “Oriental” women proved irresistible to many European photographers. A most immediate attraction was the bewildering variety in their costume, distinct according to culture, region, social status and stage of life. The attire and headdress of this woman identifies her as a Druze bride from Lebanon.

A Druse Bride from Lebanon

c. 1881

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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Photograph: Music School, Syria

1898–1906

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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 Justification for this item

This photograph was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.

Photograph: Music School, Syria

1898–1906

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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Photograph: A Mohammedan Funeral, Egypt

1899

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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 Justification for this item

This photograph of a Muslim funeral was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.

Photograph: A Mohammedan Funeral, Egypt

1899

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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Photograph: Arabic School, Learning the Koran, Egypt

1899

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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 Justification for this item

This photograph of children learning to read the Qur’an was taken by the Keystone View Company, which from 1892 to 1963 produced educational and ethnographic stereographs to satisfy a European interest in other cultures.

Photograph: Arabic School, Learning the Koran, Egypt

1899

National Museum of Anthropology

Madrid, Spain

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Postcards showing Romanian tourists in Egypt

Beginning of the 20th century

National Museum of Romanian History

Bucharest, Romania

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 Justification for this item

The picture postcard gives a wonderful glimpse of 19th-century European tourists in Egypt. Carefully posed in front of the pyramids, the Romanian travellers are accompanied by local guides as well as donkeys and camels used for transportation.

Postcards showing Romanian tourists in Egypt

Beginning of the 20th century

National Museum of Romanian History

Bucharest, Romania

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Types of Cairo

c. 1913

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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 Justification for this item

A major fascination among Europeans was the astonishing diversity and appearance of the peoples they encountered. This assemblage of “types” from Cairo – collected by the Italian zoologist and anthropologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli during his travels – shows a subject of particular recurring interest: women.

Types of Cairo

c. 1913

National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”

Rome, Italy

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Introduction to the Chapter