19th century
Sabancı University, Sakıp Sabancı Museum
Istanbul, Turkey
This portrait won the bronze medal at the Paris exhibition of 1889, the year after it was painted. Halil Pasha, who was part of the Asker Ressamlar (Soldier Artists), founded a new Ottoman art tradition inspired by the Western style, and worked with Jean Leon Gérôme at his atelier in Paris.
An Elephant; An indian Ox; An Antelope
1853
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
Studies for After the Flood, commissioned by King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and shown at the Exhibition held in Paris in 1867, where it obtained the gold medal. In the final work, elements of the “exotic”, which the painter had probably witnessed in France, are integrated with a background story from the Bible.
The Expulsion of the Duke of Athens
1860
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
This work won the silver medal at the Paris exhibition of 1867. It represents the historical fall of Gualtieri di Brienne Duke of Athens and controversial tyrant of Florence (1342‒3). This theme, which the artist had been studying since 1854, is a metaphorical representation of political ambition and national identity against foreign domination.
1873
The Painting Collection of the The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Vice Secretary General, National Palaces, Dolmabahçe Palace
Istanbul, Turkey
This work (commissioned in 1869 to mark the opening of the Suez Canal) represents an interesting example of an Occidental artist commissioned by an Islamic patron. The huge painting, presented at exhibition held in Vienna in 1873, realistically depicts the religious procession carrying gifts from Cairo to the Ka’aba at Mecca.
The Temptations of Saint Antony
1878
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
In this complex work by Morelli, exhibited at the exhibition held in Paris in 1878, the Orientalist component, linked with intense elements of verismo or realism, enhances a strong, mystic, but at the same time, erotic, tension of the hagiographic tale. The painting was probably inspired by Gustave Flaubert’s 1874 La tentation de Saint-Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony).
Edward Jenner, Marble Group by Giulio Monteverde
1878
National Central Library
Rome, Italy
The engraving celebrates the work of Monteverde. Contemporary reports say that at the 1878 Paris exhibition the marble version of the sculpture was awarded the Medal of Honour and the public received it enthusiastically.
Proximus tuus [Latin: Your Neighbour]
1880
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
The sculpture denounces the brutal hopelessness of rural work with solemn realism. It was exhibited at several International Exhibitions, including those held in Munich in 1883, Antwerp in 1885 and St Louis in 1904.
1882 (fusion 1895)
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
This relief sculpture by Vincenzo Vela is a tribute to the many workers who died during construction of the Gotthard railway tunnel in Switzerland (1871‒81). The artist affirmed that he had not been commissioned to make the work, but had personal reasons for making it. It was cast in bronze at the request of the Ministry of Education in 1895 and exhibited at the Paris exhibition of 1900.
Edward Jenner Inoculates his Small Son with the Smallpox Vaccine
c. 1878
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
The sculpture by Giulio Monteverde represents Edward Jenner, inventor of the smallpox vaccine, inoculating his own son with the very first dose. The work was exhibited at Vienna’s first International Exhibition in 1873, where it won the gold medal. The marble version was exhibited in 1878 at the Paris exhibition, where it won the Medal of Honour.
1896
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
First presented at the International Exhibition of Art in Florence, this portrait attracted the attention and critical acclaim of the public since its first appearance in 1897. In fact, so admired was the work that it was reproduced on postcards.
1900
The National Museum
Belgrade, Serbia
Commissioned by the Kingdom of Serbia and shown at the exhibition held in Paris in 1900, the painting won a gold medal. To prepare the historical subject, Jovanovic travelled for two years throughout Vienna, Constantinople, Venice, Skopje and in Kosovo and Metohija, and then used a plein air technique to depict this most epic historical landmark of the nation.
1900
The National Museum
Belgrade, Serbia
The painting, commissioned by King Aleksandar Obrenović for the Paris exhibition of 1900, represents the inevitable fall of the town which is under attack by the Ottoman Turks. While it was rejected beforehand by the exhibition committee on account of its excessively violent realism, a largely Serbian audience flocked in thousands to admire the work.
1905
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
Shown in 1911 at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome, Klimt’s work won a prize and was then bought by the Italian state. In the work, the vogue for Orientalism that had spread among artists who wanted to free themselves from the conventions of Western art is apparent, as are the Byzantine mosaics Klimt saw in Ravenna in 1903.