The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357

The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357

Walter Charles Horsley

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published in The Art Journal in 1885, this photogravure is based on a painting that Horsley exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884 (no. 516), now in the Museums Sheffield. The work depicts a range of Egyptians, from a fully veiled woman fruit seller, to a lightly veiled light-skinned woman, a male water carrier, several children, a Muslim cleric, young bearded Arabs, a dark skinned Nubian, and an Ottoman. All observe, a French soldier during the period of Napoleon’s occupation (1798-1801) carving their leader's name into the base of a tower—such inscriptions were placed on the main gates and towers of the city and aroused local resentment. Horsley specialized in Oriental subjects, and travelled to India, Egypt, Tangiers, Morocco and Turkey to gather material. The painting related to his print was conceived shortly after the British took military control of Egypt in 1882 (to secure their access to the Suez Canal). The subject reflects on the nature and unintended effects of military power.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357The French in Cairo, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 357

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.