Pelt Merchant of Cairo 1869

"The Pelt Merchant of Cairo" is an 1869 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, a prominent French Academic artist. The painting depicts a young man, dressed in traditional Middle Eastern garb, seated on a tiger skin in a Cairo marketplace. The man holds a helmet in his hand, perhaps a symbol of military might or power. The painting's realism and attention to detail are characteristic of Gérôme's style. The scene evokes a sense of exoticism and historical authenticity, inviting viewers to imagine the bustling atmosphere of a 19th-century Cairo market. The painting has become an iconic representation of the Orientalist movement, which explored Eastern cultures and societies through a European lens.