Theodoros Ralli

Acquired from a member of the former Egyptian Royal Family by the father of the present owner in 1990

Nicosia, The Hellenic Embassy of Greece, Important Landmarks of Neo-Hellenic Painting of the 19th and 20th Centuries, 2004, no. 18, illustrated in the catalogue

Haris Kampourides, New Iconography: The Triumphant Return of Pictorial Representation, Athens, 2003, p. 12, illustrated
Important Landmarks of Neo-Ηellenic Painting of 19th and 20th Century, Athens, 2006, p. 39, illustrated

Original canvas. Overall this work is in good condition and would benefit from a light clean. There are two 2 by 3cm patches on reverse: one addressing a 2cm vertical tear in the upper centre, with some associated rubbing to the paint surface, and a second possibly addressing an old repaired tear in the back of her veil. There is a light horizontal stretcher mark, and some light hairline craquelure visible notably in the grey pigments near the extreme upper and lower edges, and a handful of very minor spots of retouching at the extreme edges addressing frame rubbing. Held in a decorative gold-painted wood and plaster Salon-style frame with foliate motifs.
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In this hieratic, delicately observed masterpiece, a young lady is seen standing absorbed in prayer, the rich greens of her drapery acting as a counterpoint to the more sombre colours of the Mosque interior. The work is suffused with the spirituality and mysticism which characterise Ralli's Orientalist oeuvre, and also reflects his fastidious depiction of ethnographic elements, acquired from his teacher Jean-Léon Gérôme.

In the lower right of the painting is a folding Koran stand inlaid with tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl. To the left is a seventeenth-century Ottoman candlestick, while the shrine may be based on the Eyüp Sultan Türbe in Istanbul, containing the footprints of the Prophet. Although the unlikely presence of the minbar, with its geometric decoration, at the shrine suggests that the artist was taking some degree of artistic licence, a high level of ethnographic exactitude nevertheless characterises Rallis' works, especially when compared to other proponents of Academic realism. This was achieved thanks to frequent visits to the East, including Asia Minor, Palestine, and especially Cairo, where Ralli set up a studio and spent each winter from the late 1880s to 1904. The cropped composition of the painting suggests the influence of photography, and Ralli's exquisite, photographic draughtsmanship further extends the reference.

The rich yet subdued palette, Orientalist theme and high academic finish reflect Ralli's schooling at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the tutelage of the pompier painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, thanks to the support and patronage of King Otto of Greece. Considered by Louis Gonse, editor-in-chief of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts as 'one of the most distinguished students at M. Gérôme's studio', Ralli made his debut at the Paris Salon in 1875 and exhibited regularly thereafter, and was the only Greek artist to take such an active part in Parisian artistic life.