Jewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the Ground

Jewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the Ground

Théodore Chassériau

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chassériau, one of the most important figures in French art of the nineteenth century—although he is not well known today—followed Eugéne Delacroix (French, 1798–1863) and others who traveled to North Africa in response to the prevailing vogue for exotic subjects. Chassériau spent several months of 1846 in Constantine, Algeria, making well over one thousand sketches, which provided him with subject matter for his paintings for the rest of his short life. This young woman with an intense gaze bears a strong resemblance to the one depicted in Chassériau's "Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine" of 1851. Notations along the right edge give details of the fabrics and colors of her costume.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the GroundJewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the GroundJewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the GroundJewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the GroundJewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the Ground

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.