Eduard Charlemont
Imposing and impassive, a tall man dressed in brilliant white robes stands guard, holding a narrow sword like an extension of his muscular arm. Power and intrigue emanate from the painting. What makes this image so transfixing? Beyond its nearly life-size scale is the striking contrast between the man's dazzling garments and the dark elements of the painting: his ebony skin and the shadowy interior. The wealth of details—folds of fabric, strands of threads, and intricate gold inlay on the dagger handle and sheath—are stunningly realistic and remarkable. Painting on a smooth wood panel rather than on canvas allowed the artist to create an image without visible brushstrokes and to render various textures and features with utmost precision.
Who created this extraordinary painting? It may be surprising to learn that the artist was Eduard Charlemont, a virtually unknown painter from Vienna, Austria. As a teen, he was trained by his father in miniature portrait painting. Later, he traveled throughout Europe to hone his artistic skills before settling in France where he lived for thirty years. The majority of Charlemont’s paintings are portraits, European interiors, and murals—very different from The Moorish Chief. In 19th century Europe, however, there was a fascination with the East, which encompassed North Africa, the Middle East, and West Asia. As a result, numerous so-called Orientalist images were painted, but unlike this one, many were titillating scenes of harem women.
Charlemont exhibited this piece at the Paris Salon of 1878 under the title Guardian of the Seraglio, which indicates the man’s position as protector of the women’s quarters in a Muslim dwelling. The ornately patterned walls and arches of the interior were inspired by the Alhambra, a Moorish fortress and palace built in the 13th and 14th centuries in southern Spain. When purchased in 1892, the painting was known as The Alhambra Guard; it received its current name two decades later. Typical of Orientalist paintings, The Moorish Chief was a staged scene with a costumed man—disappointing but spectacular nevertheless.
- Martina Keogan
P.S. The European fascination with the East emerges also in the Orientalism of Eugène Delacroix.