About this artwork

Melville travelled extensively in the Middle East in 1881-2. He reached Baghdad in April 1882, writing in his journal ‘we sighted the minarets of Baghdad. What before had been to us only a name of the “thousand and one nights” became at once a reality’. Although disappointed that the city little resembled the romantic fantasy of the Arabian Nights, Melville made numerous sketches of street life and the city architecture. Here a group of armed men pause to water their horse, while a carpet beater is caught in mid motion.

Updated before 2020

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Arthur Melville

Arthur Melville