XIX Secolo, Views Of The Bosphorus

XIX Secolo

Views of the Bosphorus

Oil on canvas, cm 75,5 x 105

With frame, cm 89 x 118

The two splendid views resume, in full nineteenth-century taste for travel and orientalism, the daily activities of a city that develops its trade between the straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, taken from two different points of view. It would therefore be an eastern town, one of the many inhabited centres on the Chersonese peninsula (Turkey), as you can easily see from the robes, and especially the headdresses, the men and bedouins in the foreground, the dromedaries heading out of the city, as well for the lush green vegetation of palm trees and other leafy trees and gentle steep slopes towards the water, while in the background the sun sets in the distance. It seems to be in front of an urban settlement of considerable size, fortified, as can be seen from the walls on the side of the sea in the first painting. The built structures are also different, characterized by several domes in profile and various minarets, which identify it as a Muslim city; the fortification also creates a more protected bay, as shown in the first painting, with also a defensive tower facing the waters, to warn immediately 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 hills; also in this painting the profile that stands out is densely defined by high and thin minarets.

The bright colors of the foreground, with the figurines engaged in their activities, and the lush nature, contrast with the more calm tones of the background, suffused by the celestial light of the sunset on the horizon.