The Seraglio (Aubry de La Mottraye, Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa..., London, 1724, vol. I, pl. 18)

Art Historical Context

Step into the exotic world of 18th-century Europe with *The Seraglio*, a etching and engraving from Aubry de La Mottr's 1724 travelogue *Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into of Africa*. Created between 1723 and 1724, this second-state print—measuring a modest 10 x 13¾ inches—was masterfully engraved by William Hogarth, the renowned British artist known for his satirical genius, after an original painting by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, court painter to the Ottoman sultans. It vividly captures a lively seraglio scene bustling with men and women dancing amid musical instruments, offering European viewers a rare glimpse into Ottoman palace life. This artwork embodies the era's "Orientalist" fascination, as travelers like La Mottraye documented distant cultures to satisfy growing curiosity about the East. Vanmour's detailed depictions of Turkish customs, reproduced via Hogarth's precise etching and engraving techniques, allowed intricate textures—from flowing robes to gleaming instruments—to leap off the page in affordable prints. Such illustrations bridged continents, blending documentary realism with artistic flair. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917), *The Seraglio* highlights printmaking's power to democratize exotic wonders, inviting us to ponder cross-cultural exchanges in an age of exploration.

About the Artist

William Hogarth|Aubry de La Mottraye|Jean Baptiste Vanmour · 1697–1764

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...