Pyramiden und Sphinx. Originalzeichnung von Bernh. Fiedler.

Title

Pyramiden und Sphinx. Originalzeichnung von Bernh. Fiedler.

Description

Decorative view of the Paramids in Egypt. After the original painting of Bernhard Fiedler. From the magnificent work, Egypt publishing house by Eduard Hallberger, Stuttgart. Original drawing by Bernhard Fiedler. In 1855 Fiedler was invited by the Belgian King Leopold II to accompany him on his journey through Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece and Italy. Here too, many sketches and drawings were the artistic result of this trip. In the years 1865 to 1866 Fiedler stayed in Egypt for the third time. After each of his trips, Fiedler organized exhibitions of his works either in his studio or in local galleries, which were a success every time.

ca. 1870

Artist

Fiedler (1816-1904)

Bernhard Fiedler (1616 - 1904) was a German painter. In 1847, he traveled to northern Italy and Dalmatia during a second study trip. Just as on his first trip, Fiedler brought home many sketches and drawings, which then formed the basis of his oil paintings. Through his Italian landscape paintings, which were highly appreciated by art critics as well as collectors, the Sultan of Constantinople, Abdülmecid I, became aware of Fiedler. In 1853, he invited Fiedler to the Bosporus and commissioned several city views. A drawing by Fiedler of Mehmed Ali Pasha also dates from this time; however, the circumstances under which the artist and the officer met are not known.

Historical Description

Cairo's significance really changed in the 19th century with the emergence of the Khedive Empire. Ismail Pasha, who ruled between 1863 and 1879, had numerous buildings erected in the city and took the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 as an opportunity to present Cairo to the European powers as a flourishing metropolis. However, most of the development was financed by foreign loans, which increased Britain's influence in particular. During the reign of Ismail Pasha, Cairo, which now became the capital again, expanded westwards across the Nile. European architects were commissioned to renovate the city, the residential districts of Zamalek and Muhandisin were built, but large parts of today's city center also date from this period. As Egypt's industrialization accelerated, the country's capital continued to grow. By the end of the 19th century, Egypt's foreign debt and the weakness of the Ottoman Empire resulted in growing European influence in Cairo. With the occupation of Egypt by British troops and the crushing of the Urabi movement (1881-1882), Great Britain took control of the country without ending its formal affiliation with the Ottoman Empire. The Khediv of Egypt remained formally a vassal of the Ottomans. The Urabi movement emerged in the fall of 1881 when, following the financial ruin of Egypt under Ismail Pasha, the country came under international financial control. The movement opposed this international control of financial and economic policy and the autocratic rule of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.