The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 14, 2025
Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville
c. 1867–78
(French, 1831–1885)
Image: 38.1 x 48.3 cm (15 x 19 in.)
Location: Not on view
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.- ?-2021William S. and Margaret, Shaker Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHDecember 6, 2021The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- {{cite web|title=Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville|url=false|author=Félix Bonfils|year=c. 1867–78|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.207