Arthur von Ferraris

Private collection, New York, since circa 1930
Thence by descent to the present owner

Ferraris's fastidious attention to detail reflects the influence of his teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme, who encouraged him to travel to Cairo in the winter of 1885 in the company of Ludwig Deutsch. He exhibited his first Orientalist painting, Visit of the Grand Sheikh to Cairo University, at the Paris Salon of 1890. Ferraris shared a fascination for Islamic architecture with fellow Austrian painters Deutsch and Ernst. The three artists’ works share remarkable similarities in their treatment of architecture (including, as here, the observation of the ornate Mamluk carvings found in Cairo), which has prompted conjecture that they visited sites together and worked collaboratively.