The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 30, 2023

Femmes musulmanes Syriennes à Beyrouth, Costume de Ville

c. 1867–78

Félix Bonfils

(French, 1831–1885)

France

Albumen print from glass plate negative

Image: 38.1 x 48.3 cm (15 x 19 in.)

Gift of William and Margaret Lipscomb 2021.207

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

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.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Imprinted in white on recto of image: "672-Femmes musulmanes syriennes costume de ville"

Inscription

Imprinted in white on recto of image, lower right: "Bonfils"

Inscription

Written in blue pencil on verso: "24"

Inscription

Written in pencil on verso: "672/10"

Félix Bonfils

French photographer, 1831-1885, active in the Middle East
Provenance
?-2021
William S. and Margaret, Shaker Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
December 6, 2021
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.207