Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Private collection, New York (acquired circa 1975)

L'Illustration, Paris, vol. 79, 25 February 1882, illustrated
Benjamin-Constant, Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism, exh. cat., Toulouse & Montreal, 2014, p. 220, fig. 275, a print after the painting illustrated (as Janissary)

The canvas has not been lined. Considering its size, the picture is overall in good condition and presents very well. There is a pattern of fine craquelure throughout, however this is not visually too distracting. Ultra-violet light reveals areas of uneven varnish. Some carefully applied lines of in-painting are visible in the figure's trousers and in the background in the right hand side. Some other small spots of retouching are mainly visible in the upper half of the composition, notably: two small areas in the leaves in the upper left and one fine stroke in the extreme upper left edge; one small area in the foliage above the figure's head (possibly addressing an old repair); an area in the white house in the background and a cluster of vertical brushstrokes - circa 7cm long - in the foliage in the upper right. The main figure remains relatively untouched. This work is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
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Evoking the glory of Andalusia's Islamic past, Benjamin-Constant recreates a scene of everyday life in what was Islam's westernmost polity. Moorish Spain along with Morocco, just across the straits of Gibraltar, both of which he visited, were the main sources of inspiration for the artist. Of particular interest was the architecture of the Alhambra at Granada - forming the backdrop for numerous compositions, by times of men, by times of women in harem settings, and famously for his Salon submission of 1882, The Day after a Victory at the Alhambra (Museum of Montréal, Canada).

Underlying his Orientalist subjects is a rigorous academic training and skill at rendering the human anatomy, acquired at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the history painter Alexandre Cabanel. Here, the stoic pose of the sentinel is masterfully observed, every muscle in his body taught and alert. His accoutrements, even down to the Mamluk glass bottle on the wall, are observed in minute detail. Benjamin-Constant's studio in Pigalle became a veritable emporium of objects collected on his journeys, ranging from rugs and fabrics to furniture and weapons. 

The painting is offered in an elaborate gilt frame embossed in Arabic with the words 'There is no Victor but God', the motto of the Emirate of Granada and of the Nasrid Dynasty, and which is worked into the decoration of the Alhambra, built by that dynasty.