Artwork Page for Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville

Details / Information for Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville

Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville

c. 1867–78

Félix Bonfils

(French, 1831–1885)
Culture
France
Medium
Albumen print from glass plate negative
Measurements
Image: 38.1 x 48.3 cm (15 x 19 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of William and Margaret Lipscomb 2021.207
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Many Westerners found the full veils worn by Muslim women in mid-nineteenth-century Beirut both fascinating and disturbing.

Description

French photographer Félix Bonfils settled with his wife and child in Beirut in 1867 and opened a photography studio which his family continued to operate until 1918. Their offerings included landscapes and cityscapes, portraits, and posed scenes including examples of Middle Eastern dress such as this one, which shows the full-body and face veils worn in public by some, although not all, Muslim women in public in Beirut.
A vertically oriented albumen print depicts two women draped in patterned textiles. On our left, a woman faces away wearing a dark cloth with a white triangular headpiece. On our right, another woman turns forward, her face hidden by a floral veil. Both wear garments with stripes and geometric borders. Stones cover the ground against a backdrop of foliage. Cursive text at the bottom identifies them as Syrian Muslim women.

Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville

c. 1867–78

Félix Bonfils

(French, 1831–1885)
France

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