La Pudeur Égyptienne 1838

Charles Gleyre painted "La Pudeur Égyptienne," or "Egyptian Modesty" sometime during his career as a Swiss artist in France. It’s a painting that throws into sharp relief the colonial gaze of 19th-century Orientalism. Here, we see a man on horseback, rendered as an exoticized figure against a backdrop of the Egyptian landscape. The so-called modesty of the title is embodied by the two partially nude women who try to cover themselves. One woman rises and grasps at the cloth, while the other reclines at the base, seemingly complacent. The contrast between the mounted man and the exposed women can lead us to consider the power dynamics between the colonizer and the colonized, the observed and the observer. It invites questions about whose stories get told, and how they are framed. How might we reframe this encounter, allowing space for the voices and experiences of those who have been historically marginalized?