Chef des Eunuques (head of the Eunuchs), from the series "Caravane du Sultan à la Mecque..." (Caravan of a Sultan Going to Mecca)
Joseph Marie Vien French
Not on view
In eighteenth-century France, the most promising young painters, sculptors, and architects were awarded fellowships to study in Rome. It was a tradition among these students, known as pensionnaires, to stage an elaborate procession during Carnival.
In 1748, the theme "A Caravan of the Sultan to Mecca" was proposed by Vien. The pensionnaires dressed in elaborate homemade costumes and adopted the roles of various members of the Ottoman court. Individual figures were then drawn and etched by Vien in a suite of prints that mimicked the tradition of costume-book plates. Certain students took on female personas while others, as seen for example in this print entitled Head of the Eunuchs, apparently used makeup to suggest a dark skin color.
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