Western girl dressed as Odalisque - Italian school of the second half of the 19th century

Oil painting on canvas depicting a western girl dressed as Odalisque in oriental clothing absorbed at the window inside a Harem.
attributed to Pietro Morgari

Italian school of the second half of the 19th century. Measures 131x97.5 cm.

The princesses along with the odalisques and slaves from every region of the vast Turkish empire (Greek, Georgian, Circassian) spent their time between lunches, pipe smoking, coffee, tea and long conversations. Only towards evening did they go down to the garden, preceded by the eunuchs who made any visitors withdraw. Sometimes some drama darkened the monotony of everyday life: it happened that the master fell in love with a slave who gave him a child and that the mistress, seized by violent jealousy, would reunite the poor girl in a cell. However, it is erroneous to suppose that Turkish women were unhappy, as, besides the supreme happiness of raising offspring and becoming affectionate mothers, there was no shortage of pastimes such as dancing, singing, bathing, walking, dressing and even idleness. which was regarded as one of the pleasures of life.