Saada, the Wife of Abraham Ben-Chimol, and Préciada, One of Their Daughters

Eugène Delacroix

1832 · Watercolor over graphite on wove paper · Drawings and Prints

Delacroix produced this sumptuous watercolor on a trip to North Africa in 1832. He accompanied his friend the Count de Mornay on his mission as good-will ambassador to the Sultan of Morocco, Abd-er-Rahman II. Assigned to the delegation as dragoman was the Jewish interpreter Abraham Ben-Chimol (Abraham Benchimol) of Tangiers, who introduced the Frenchmen to his wife and to his daughter, pictured here in her bridal attire. In his "Journal," Delacroix described in extensive detail a Jewish wedding he attended in Tangiers on February 21, 1832.

Artist

Eugène Delacroix

Date

1832

Medium

Watercolor over graphite on wove paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971