(not entered)

Description

This imagined portrait of a young, nubile Algerian woman is a prime example of colonial attitudes in the later 1800s. Responding to common male erotic fantasies about harem life, Carrier-Belleuse represented the figure dressed in revealing, bust-hugging garments and with a heavy-lidded come-hither smile, turning her into an object of desire.
The sculptural medium of cast terracotta is perfectly suited to Carrier-Belleuse’s romantic realism; even the finest material details are crisply rendered, from embroidery- encrusted fabric and coin-hung beads to the woman’s even teeth and curling tresses.