This portrait of Miloš Obrenović Prince of Serbia (1815–39; 1858–60) shows the extension and importance of Ottoman art. Serbia, under the rule of Obrenović was part of the Ottoman Empire, but became an autonomous duchy within the empire. The prince is shown dressed in “Oriental” costume and wears a typical headdress – a turban.

David Roberts was a Scottish painter known particularly for a prolific series of detailed lithographic prints of Egypt and the Near East, which he produced during the 1840s from sketches he had made during extensive tours of the region (1838–9). These, and his large oil paintings of similar subjects, made him a prominent and highly influential Orientalist painter.

Arab and Ottoman attire is an important Orientalist motif that reappears often within this exhibition. The European Orientalist painters understood the value of clothing in the Arab and Ottoman world and this is reflected in their paintings.

Jean-Horace Vermet was King Louis-Philippe’s and Napoleon III’s official painter. He was in charge of depicting the Conquest of Algeria by the French Army in 1830. His drawings provided an idyllic image of Algeria. This painting, published as an engraving in journals, was widely known.

This sketch was made by John Frederick Lewis, possibly during the period he spent in Cairo from 1841 to 1850. The time he spent in Egypt and Spain greatly inspired his work.

The artist Mariano Fortuny travelled to Morocco to paint the Spanish-Morocco War, a trip funded by the local government of Barcelona. Taken by the light and the people of Morocco, Fortuny began a series of painted sketches that were to inspire him over many years. In addition, he became a collector of Islamic artefacts. Fortuny, one of Spain’s most notable artists, was influenced, like many other artists, by his Orientalist experience.

The Maltese (British) painter Amadeo Preziosi settled in Istanbul where, like many of his contemporaries, he had been lured by its alleged exoticism. Usually Preziosi painted scenes from daily life; shops amidst streets, coffeehouses, bathhouses, peddlers selling in the streets, a woman collecting water from a fountain. He also painted figures from different ethnic groups in which he tried to reflect the cultural diversity of Istanbul.

In the 19th century, Greece, the Balkans and Spain were considered part of the Eastern realms. The Balkans and Greece, which then were then part of the Ottoman Empire, in this century fought to be independent from it. During the Ottoman occupation Greek peasants often retreated to impregnable mountain regions, where they engaged in resistance against the Ottoman Turks. These mountaineers were romanticised by both artists and poets.

This work was made around 1863 when the artist travelled from Spain to Morocco with the artist Mariano Fortuny. The reason for the journey was to paint the characters and “picturesque” garments, as a way of showing the way of life of the people from Morocco.

At the same time as Orientalism became popular so too did Japonisme, a movement inspired by all things Japanese. This drawing, depicting an odalisque, is influenced by both movements. Many Orientalist engravings were later used in other media, such as in porcelain. In this case, the odalisque can also be found on a vase painted by Victor Rousseau, in 1837, from the Portuguese Vista Alegre factory.

This work was made in around 1863 when the artist Francisco Lameyer Berenguer travelled to Morocco with the artist Mariano Fortuny. Within Orientalism, depictions of harems and markets are considered genre painting.

An important Orientalist motif that reappears often in this exhibition is Arab and Ottoman attire. This painting is by Pierre Désiré Guillemet, who worked for the Ottoman Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. With the help of the sultan, Guillemet established the first private academy of art in Istanbul where he and his wife taught Western-style drawing and painting.

European artist-travellers sought to develop imagery that would capture what they believed to be characteristic not only of cities and landscapes but also the people of the regions they visited. The complex crowd scenes were meant to be read primarily as faithful figurative representations on a panoramic scale.

The Maltese (British) artist Amadeo Preziosi settled in Istanbul as a diplomatic translator and artist, specialising in touristic scenes, vistas and portraits. In 1844, Robert Curzon, a British diplomat, commissioned from him an album on the Costumes of Constantinople. In the 1850s and 1860s Le Mercier in Paris published Preziosi’s most popular works as chromolithographs.

Stefano Ussi lived between Florence and Rome. On the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal the artist went to Egypt, where he realised the first version of The Prayer in the Desert, which was exhibited at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. From then on, Ussi painted both history and Orientalist subjects.

This painting by Domenico Morelli was displayed at the Universal Exposition in Paris of 1878. One of the artist’s more complex works, it was inspired by Gaustave Flaubert’s poem “La Tentation de Saint Antoine”, depicting in the male figure’s attire an Arab influence.

The Italian painter Stefano Ussi was part of a delegation sent by the Italian Embassy to Morocco in 1875. He was joined by the writer Edmondo de Amicis and the painter Cesare Biseo. During this trip, Ussi realised many sketches that later inspired his paintings.

Leopold Alphons Mielich studied in Paris, London and Munich. In 1887, he spent a few years in London and the Middle East. Especially well known are his numerous paintings of Cairo and its surroundings.

This print, which shows a Bedouin of the Hawran riding his camel, is an example of the European interest in people from the deserts of the Arab and Ottoman world.

The well-known Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir travelled to Algeria in 1881. While there, he made several drawings and painted studies among which are many studies of the Algerian people, especially women wearing traditional attire, in this case the haïk. Algeria was a one of the most popular destinations for French artists.