Jewish woman in Cairo

Cornelis de Bruyn

1714

Image

Print of seated person in large hat and robes facing to the left smoking a very long pipe. — This engraving depicting a Jewish woman in Cairo, Egypt, is from Cornelis de Bruyn’s travelogue, *Reizen van Corn de Bruyn door de vermaardste deelen van Klein Asia, de eylanden Scio, Rhodus, Cyprus enz. mitsg. de voornaamste steden van Aegypten, Syrien en Palestina*, first published in Delft, the Netherlands, in 1698. Before the advent of photography, it was not uncommon for artists to travel to what were considered exotic or picturesque locations in Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, and to produce artworks upon their return home that helped satisfy the curiosity of the public about distant places and peoples.

Credits

Cornelis de Bruyn, from Voyage au Levant, c’est–à–dire, dans les principaux endroits de l’Asie Mineure, dans les isles de Chio, Rhodes, & Chypre, &c., de même que dans les plus consid érables villes d’Égypte, de Syrie, et de la Terre Sainte (Paris: Guillaume Cavelier, 714), p. 220. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Jewish Man in Cairo

This engraving depicting a Jewish man in Cairo, Egypt is from Cornelis de Bruyn’s travelogue, Reizen van Corn. de Bruyn door de vermaardste deelen van Klein Asia, de eylanden Scio, Rhodus, Cyprus enz…

View Source

Page of Aramaic text framed by floral ornament with crown in top center and signatures in Roman alphabet and Spanish writing on bottom.

Ketubah

This is the marriage contract (ketubah) that Isaac, the son of Aaron Sasportas, gave to Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham Pinto. A floral decoration stemming from a vase at the bottom of the contract…

View Source

Portrait photograph of a woman looking at the camera and holding up a cigarette in her left hand.

Portrait of Hannah Arendt

Alfred Bernheim’s intimate portrait of Hannah Arendt portrays her as casual and self-confident, lounging on a couch and smoking a cigarette. Arendt was one of the most famous intellectuals of the…

View Source

Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Cornelis de Bruyn

1652–1727

Cornelis de Bruyn was a Dutch artist, writer, and traveler who published two books about his trips to the Middle East. De Bruyn studied painting in the Hague. A wealthy patron paid for his first trip abroad in 1674, to Italy, Izmir, Asia Minor, and Egypt. In 1684, he returned and went to live in Venice, where he continued to study painting. In 1698, after returning to the Hague, he published the first edition of his travelogue (Reizen van Corn. de Bruyn door de vermaardste deelen van Klein Asia, de eylanden Scio, Rhodus, Cyprus enz. mitsg. de voornaamste steden van Aegypten, Syrien en Palestina, Delft, 1698) which included 215 engravings as illustrations. In 1701, de Bruyn left on a second journey, to Russia, Persia, and the Dutch Indies. He published an illustrated account of this journey in 1711.