Portrait of an oriental with a gun 

Francesco Beda painted this portrait of a man in an orientalist style. It reflects a 19th-century European fascination with the "exotic" cultures of the Middle East and North Africa. The way the man is portrayed, armed and in traditional clothing, tells us a lot about the power dynamics of the time. Beda, as a European artist, painted this man through a lens of colonial perception. This depiction often romanticized or stereotyped people from these regions, which is evident in his portrayal. The painting makes me think about the impact of colonialism on personal identity and how those historical power structures continue to influence how we see one another today. We should think about how cultural narratives shape our views and feelings.