Market Day on the Mu'izz id-Din li-Lah, old Cairo

In this finely executed watercolor, Preziosi offers an important visual document of some of the oldest extant Mamluk architecture found along the main ceremonial avenue of historic Cairo, the Mu'izz id-Din li-Lah. On the left various Mamluk complexes built on the Western Fatimid Palace can be readily identified: the complex of Sultan Qalawun, 1284-85, the complex of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, 1296-1304, and the complex of Sultan Barquq, 1384-86. On the right is the southern side of the Madrasa of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars, 1262-63, which was torn down in 1874 to make way for a connecting road between the two main avenues of this area. Few European artists painted this building and thus Preziosi's rendition is of great documentary value.

We are grateful to Caroline Williams for identifying the monuments in this work.