Theodoros Ralli

Acquired by the father of the present owner circa 1900;
thence by descent

The present work is a quintessential example of Ralli's celebration of the culture and traditions of Greece, as women dressed in traditional Greek costume gather in a room, industriously sorting and cleaning rosebuds, to be crushed and made into rose-petal jam. Ralli spent most of his working life in France and Egypt. His genre paintings, as a consequence, were often nostalgic recollections of the life and customs of his homeland, which he portrayed with a delicate and moving reverence.

Rose-petal jam, while often considered a delicacy of the Peloponnese, is widely made and consumed in Greece and even Turkey, and has historical and mythological connotations through its main ingredient. According to ancient myth, wherever the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, Aphrodite, wandered, fragrant roses bloomed at her feet; aphrodisia festivals were devoted to the goddess, in which young girls danced, sang and adorned themselves with roses. Rose perfume and rose water, appreciated for their therapeutic, antiseptic and soothing qualities, have been manufactured in Greece for centuries and made from roses plucked from their bushes in the crisp first bloom of April or May.

Epitomising the lavish scenes for which Ralli was renowned, the present work is elaborated with great attention to detail. In Les Confitures de roses à Mégara, Ralli pays particular attention to the costumes and facial expressions of the women, the texture of fabrics, and the soft quality of the varying light sources such as the candles, the glowing embers in the fireplace and the rays of light coming in through the window to the left. The large size of the canvas reveals that this was an ambitious and important composition for the artist, an importance proved by Ralli's inclusion of the painting in the Paris Salon of 1892.

Born in Constantinople of Greek descent, Ralli trained in Paris in the studio of leading pompier painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, through the support and patronage of King Otto of Greece. He made his debut at the Paris Salon in 1875, and in 1900 was appointed to the Jury of the Parisian International Exhibition. Gérôme's legendary draughtsmanship and photographic finish provided a model of perfection, which Ralli emulated with great success, yet, contrary to Gérôme, ethnographical precision and exactitude were also his guiding principles.