Viennese school; second half of the 19th century

Viennese school; second half of the 19th century.
"Arab Woman".
Polychrome terracotta.
Measures: 38 x 27 x 16 cm.
This figure represents an odalisque, a slave girl belonging to the Ottoman Empire, who established herself as an apprentice or assistant to the sultan's concubines and wives, and who could later attain this social position. Most odalisques were part of the sultan's imperial harem. The representation of this type of woman in the West was a recurring theme throughout the 19th century.
The Middle East will be the new discovery. Starting with Ingres' beautiful and unattainable odalisques, with such pale skin and elegant gestures that they always lead one to think of a captive Christian princess, never an Arab woman, the various pictorial schools developed a whole new iconography that sought to recreate in a fantastic way - since nothing is known of the East - a world forbidden to Westerners and full of attractions. Painters such as the French painters Bouguereau and Giraud recreated exotic scenes in great detail, seeking to serve as a window onto the unknown through an almost photographic reproduction that lends verisimilitude to the narratives and stimulates the imagination of the European spectator.