Juif, plate 63 from "Recueil de cent estampes représentent differentes nations du Levant"

Art Historical Context

This print, titled *Juif* (Jew), forms plate 63 in the celebrated 1714–15 publication *Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant*. Compiled by Jacques le Hay after paintings by Jean Baptiste Vanmour and engraved by Bernard Baron, the volume offered European audiences one of the earliest systematic visual surveys of the peoples of the Ottoman Empire and eastern Mediterranean. Through its careful documentation of dress and appearance, the series reflected the period’s growing fascination with ethnographic detail and the exotic “Orient.” Created in etching and engraving, the work combines the fluid linework of etching with the crisp precision of engraving, allowing for wide distribution while preserving delicate textures in fabric and features. Vanmour’s original observations, translated into print, provided viewers with what was considered an authentic glimpse of Levantine life, shaping Western perceptions of the region for decades. Today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, *Juif* exemplifies how eighteenth-century print culture bridged distant cultures, inviting museum visitors to consider both the curiosity and the conventions that informed early modern representations of identity.

About the Artist

Jacques le Hay|Jean Baptiste Vanmour|Bernard Baron (French| ) · 1671 |1650 –1737 |1750

French, Valenciennes 1671–1737 Istanbul (Constantinople)|