Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine
Chassériau witnessed this scene and sketched it in his notebook during a trip to Algeria in 1846. From the ancient town of Constantine he wrote, "I have seen some highly curious things: primitive and overwhelming, touching and singular. At Constantine, which is high up in some enormous mountains, one sees the Arab people and the Jewish people [living] as they were at the beginning of time." The Jewish women of North Africa were especially attractive subjects for European painters because they did not wear veils.
Artwork Details
- Title: Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine
- Artist: Théodore Chassériau (French, Le Limon, Saint-Domingue, West Indies 1819–1856 Paris)
- Date: 1851
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 22 3/8 x 18 1/2 in. (56.8 x 47 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 1996
- Object Number: 1996.285
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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6030. Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine
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