Market in Cairo by Achille Vertunni

Achille Vertunni
1826-1897 | Italian

Market in Cairo

Signed “A. Vertunni Cairo” (lower right)
Oil on canvas

Achille Vertunni’s Market in Cairo showcases the vibrant palette that serves as a cornerstone of the artist’s oeuvre. Cairo’s bustling streets and markets were a favorite subject of the Italian artist. At a time when many European men traveled to Italy to participate in the Grand Tour, Vertunni’s paintings of Egypt offered worldly patrons a tantalizing taste of life across the Mediterranean. Further heightened by its meticulously carved wooden frame, Market in Cairo is a very fine example of 19th-century Orientalist painting. 

This large period frame, comprised of motifs that reference classic Islamic geometry, is intricately carved in breathtaking form. A famed 19th-century art critic once quipped, “I have never seen a painting that would not be improved by a better frame." This painting, already perfectly matched by its extraordinarily carved wooden frame, would be the exception to that rule.

In Market in Cairo, Vertunni paints a compelling and dynamic image of an Egyptian market on the banks of the Nile River. Two men in the foreground rest on the embankment, and one bows under the weight of a woven basket. Towering palms stretch upward into the clear blue sky, making the ten men seated by tents in the background — likely intended to be Bedouins dressed in their traditional long gowns and headscarves — appear diminutive next to the trunks’ monumental scale. Fields of warm orange, red and yellow hues dominate the painting. Long shadows stretch from the standing figures, evocative of the blazing heat of the afternoon sun. 

Achille Vertunni’s artistic career began in 1851, when he entered a competition at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples. With the judges unable to decide on a single winner, Vertunni and another young artist were each awarded silver medals for their contributions and were provided a monetary prize to study in Rome. When Vertunni arrived in Rome in 1853, he immediately began painting, inspired by the ancient art and natural beauty of the city. His explorations of Egypt in his oeuvre bear the hallmarks of a distinctive Roman branch of Orientalism that flourished in the second half of the 19th century, manifesting in exoticized images of bazaars and other aspects of urban life.

In Vertunni’s later years, he was named Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia (Order of the Crown of Italy), as well as an honorary professor at both the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti in Naples and of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. A 19th-century biographer described Vertunni as “a fervent, sensitive soul, enthusiastic about the beauties of nature and the bright ideals of poetry, he wanted to seek the eloquent language of his inspirations in the kaleidoscope of his palette,” and the artist's deep appreciation of natural beauty and color is apparent in his Market in Cairo.

Circa 1875

Exhibitions:
Rome, Berardi Galleria d’Arte, Extraordinary lives: Art between travel and exploration, October 27-November 24, 2022.

Literature:
Colonna, Valentina. “The Arab Room of Achille Vertunni: Islamic Art on the Streets of Rome” in À l’orientale: Collecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries, 2019, pp. 177-188.
De Gubernatis, Angelo. Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti. Firenze, 1889, pp. 542–543.