Jewish Wedding in Morocco is an 1839 Orientalist painting by the leading French artist of the Romantic period Eugène Delacroix. It is located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
Analysis of Delacroix’s Jewish Wedding in Morocco
Delacroix, (1798-1863) first travelled to North Africa in 1832 and was captivated by its various cultures, remarking in his diary that he felt he had been transported to the classical ancient world.
Jewish Wedding in Morocco was painted in 1839 and depicts festivities at a Jewish wedding with seated musicians to the rear, a female dancer, arriving guests and spectators from the balcony.
The scene is packed with detail, various poses and activities and the opening of the foreground into the company of the revellers signal a welcome to the spectator of the painting.
The painting was made during Delacroix’s period of interest in Orientalism, which was a movement in art and literature that depicted the people and cultures of the East, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. Delacroix was one of the key figures of this movement, and his paintings of North Africa, such as “Jewish Wedding in Morocco,” reflect the artist’s fascination with the culture, customs, and people of the region.