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Lot Essay
Rosati began his training around 1875 in the local Academy where he studied under Francesco Podesti and Dario Querci. Having quickly tired of painting in the Academic tradition, Rosati took up his studies with Spanish genre painter Luis Alvarez Catala, who later became the director of the Prado Museum. Attracted to the vogue in Orientalist painting during his lifetime, Rosati almost exclusively dedicated himself to this growing genre and as a result became one of the most prolific Italian Orientalist painters of his time. Having never traveled abroad, Rosati cleverly invented scenes not only through his observations of the work of his contemporaries but through his meticulous imitation of oriental carpets, costumes and other North African trinkets he found in Rome. His brilliantly colored harem and market scenes are among his most creative and technically skilled works.
Rosati's careful study of Oriental carpets, particularly those from Turkey, is apparent in the painting. The carpet in the gateway behind the central male figure is a 19th century work from Konya. Additionally, the carpet on which the two nude figures are placed is a beautiful example of 17th century medallion Ushak, and the two prayer rugs in the lower left corner are Konya and Karapinar, also from the same century. Furthermore, the tombak buhurdanlik placed to the left of the entrance into the courtyard is a typical late 18th century Ottoman example. Rosati, in repeating the two oil lamp types available to him in sequence, achieves a luxurious quality that certainly adds to the richness of this household and certainly of its master. The Corinthian capitals supporting the arabesque arches present an unusual profile for a 19th century North African courtyard. This leads one to favor the hypothesis that Rosati may have been inspired by Syrian architecture, a region rich in Roman archeological remains that have undoubtedly influenced the Syrian aesthetic throughout time.
Rosati's careful study of Oriental carpets, particularly those from Turkey, is apparent in the painting. The carpet in the gateway behind the central male figure is a 19th century work from Konya. Additionally, the carpet on which the two nude figures are placed is a beautiful example of 17th century medallion Ushak, and the two prayer rugs in the lower left corner are Konya and Karapinar, also from the same century. Furthermore, the tombak buhurdanlik placed to the left of the entrance into the courtyard is a typical late 18th century Ottoman example. Rosati, in repeating the two oil lamp types available to him in sequence, achieves a luxurious quality that certainly adds to the richness of this household and certainly of its master. The Corinthian capitals supporting the arabesque arches present an unusual profile for a 19th century North African courtyard. This leads one to favor the hypothesis that Rosati may have been inspired by Syrian architecture, a region rich in Roman archeological remains that have undoubtedly influenced the Syrian aesthetic throughout time.