19th Century
Views of the Bosphorus
Oil on canvas, 75.5 x 105 cm
With frame, 89 x 118 cm
The two splendid views capture, in full 19th-century taste for travel and orientalism, the daily activities of a city that develops its trade between the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, depicted from two different points of view. It would therefore be an oriental town, one of the many inhabited centers of the Chersonese peninsula (Turkey), as can be easily understood from the clothes, and especially the headdresses, of the men and Bedouins in the foreground, from the dromedaries that are heading out of the city, as well as from the lush green vegetation of palm trees and other leafy trees and gentle slopes sloping towards the waters, while in the background in the distance the sun sets. It would seem to be in front of a large urban settlement, fortified, as can be seen from the walls on the sea side in the first painting. There are also various built structures, characterized by different domes in the profile and various minarets, which identify it as a Muslim city; the fortification also creates a more protected bay, as shown by the first painting, with also a defensive tower facing the waters, to immediately warn of the arrival of the enemy. On the contrary, the second scene shows the coastal development of the town along the left side of the hilly reliefs; also in this painting the profile that stands out is densely defined by tall and thin minarets.
The bright colors of the foreground, with the figures intent on their activities, and the luxuriant nature, contrast with the more subdued tones of the background, diffused by the celestial light of the sunset on the horizon.
