Turcs ramenant un troupeau
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Image: 8 5/16 × 13 7/16 in. (21.1 × 34.2 cm) Sheet: 11 7/8 × 17 3/16 in. (30.2 × 43.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Weston J. Naef, 1985
Accession Number
1985.1123.45
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This lithograph, titled *Turcs ramenant un troupeau* (“Turks Bringing Back a Herd”), captures a lively Orientalist scene of figures guiding livestock across a rugged landscape. Created between 1850 and 1914, the print reflects the nineteenth-century European fascination with the Near East and North Africa. Charles Émile de Tournemine, a French painter known for his travels and depictions of exotic locales, likely provided the original composition, which was then translated into print form by Jules Didier and the Bertauts studio. Lithography was ideally suited to this subject, offering rich tonal contrasts and fine detail that conveyed the textures of wool, fabric, and dusty terrain. Widely used in the 1800s, the medium allowed such images to reach broad audiences through albums and journals, shaping popular ideas about distant cultures. The work’s generous margins and careful registration highlight the technical skill involved in producing affordable yet evocative prints. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this sheet forms part of a gift that underscores the museum’s commitment to preserving reproductive media. It offers today’s viewers a window into both artistic exchange and the period’s complex cultural curiosity.
About the Artist
Jules Didier|Bertauts|Charles Emile de Tournemine · 1831–1892
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