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Lot Essay
Thebes became the capital of Egypt with the rise of the XI Dynasty in 2134 B.C. Its golden age was during the XVIII Dynasty which is often called the Time of the Empire. Tutankamun (1338-1328 B.C.) was one of the famous pharaohs of this dynasty. Nevertheless the depicted nobleman, most likely a pharaoh, was not Tutankamun himself, since the importance of this young ruler was largely due to the discovery of his tomb in 1922. It is probably Tuthmosis IV, as it was during his time that Thebes served as a reservoir for the immense wealth that poured in from the conquered countries.
The architectural elements of this harem are strikingly similar to those of the Temple of Hatshepsut. The room suggests a rectangular shape, pilars defining its entrance and an immediate opening to a terrace outside. During the 1880's the Temple of Hatshepsut, not unlike Pompeii, was a rare example of an intact structure from the Time of the Empire. Furthermore, the painting on the wall is strikingly ceremonial in its subject matter which suggests that Georges Rochegrosse may have got his inspiration for this detail from a fragment out of a temple, rather than a house. Such images would have been available to him through a weekly Egyptology newspaper that was in circulation as early as the second half of the 1880's, as well as through the collection of the Musée du Louvre.
The costumes, their colours and the fabrics used are far more likely to have been based on an opera, possibly Aida, as well as theatre, rather than the artist's knowledge of Egypt. Rochegrosse was in the circle of Sarah Bernhardt, who was particularly famous for her use of exotic oriental costumes. Particularly noteworthy is the reclining woman wearing a see-through tunic and the two odalisques flanking her. It is here that the feeling of heightened drama recalls Delacroix's master piece La mort de Sardanapale (Paris, Musée du Louvre) which Rochegrosse may have considered whilst constructing his submission to the Paris Salon.
Rochegrosse was one of the most celebrated Salon painters of his time. He occupied a studio in No. 61 Boulevard Berthier which is extremely wide with the buildings on the south side receiving maximum north light thus ideal for painting. Consequently every odd number had its studio housing many famous artists of the day including Sargent, Chabas and Boldini. Between 1880 and 1900, Rochegrosse was praised internationally and awarded several medals and then in 1910 he was made an Officer of the French Légion d'Honneur. The exotic subject matter of his works never failed to catch the eye of the Salon visitor; as Paul Mantz noted, he was 'always careful to choose subjects of a kind to interest the crowd' (Mantz, Salon 1889, p. 40.).
The architectural elements of this harem are strikingly similar to those of the Temple of Hatshepsut. The room suggests a rectangular shape, pilars defining its entrance and an immediate opening to a terrace outside. During the 1880's the Temple of Hatshepsut, not unlike Pompeii, was a rare example of an intact structure from the Time of the Empire. Furthermore, the painting on the wall is strikingly ceremonial in its subject matter which suggests that Georges Rochegrosse may have got his inspiration for this detail from a fragment out of a temple, rather than a house. Such images would have been available to him through a weekly Egyptology newspaper that was in circulation as early as the second half of the 1880's, as well as through the collection of the Musée du Louvre.
The costumes, their colours and the fabrics used are far more likely to have been based on an opera, possibly Aida, as well as theatre, rather than the artist's knowledge of Egypt. Rochegrosse was in the circle of Sarah Bernhardt, who was particularly famous for her use of exotic oriental costumes. Particularly noteworthy is the reclining woman wearing a see-through tunic and the two odalisques flanking her. It is here that the feeling of heightened drama recalls Delacroix's master piece La mort de Sardanapale (Paris, Musée du Louvre) which Rochegrosse may have considered whilst constructing his submission to the Paris Salon.
Rochegrosse was one of the most celebrated Salon painters of his time. He occupied a studio in No. 61 Boulevard Berthier which is extremely wide with the buildings on the south side receiving maximum north light thus ideal for painting. Consequently every odd number had its studio housing many famous artists of the day including Sargent, Chabas and Boldini. Between 1880 and 1900, Rochegrosse was praised internationally and awarded several medals and then in 1910 he was made an Officer of the French Légion d'Honneur. The exotic subject matter of his works never failed to catch the eye of the Salon visitor; as Paul Mantz noted, he was 'always careful to choose subjects of a kind to interest the crowd' (Mantz, Salon 1889, p. 40.).