Jean-Jacques MONANTEUIL (Mortagne-au-Perche 1785 - Le Mans 1860) Study of a Turk's Head Original canvas, with tension bands around the edges 54,5 x 47cm For a brief period between 1827 and 1832, Monanteuil studied Oriental physiognomies and costumes, following the example of his master Anne-Louis Girodet, who often painted exotic models. Monanteuil's studies of Greeks and Turks are cited by his biographer Léon de la Sicotière (Monanteuil - dessinateur et peintre, Caen, Société des Beaux-Arts, Imprimerie Leblanc-Hardel, 1865, p. 13-14). The Greek War of Independence against the Turks in the 1820s was a source of inspiration for many painters. They were lithographed by Julien from sixty-two drawings or paintings. Each varies the position of the turban or the costume. Ours is numbered n°36 (the lithograph in the direction of the engraving is reproduced in the catalogue of the exhibition Jean Jacques Monanteuil 1785-1860, Alençon, Le Mans, 1997 - 1998, p.37, n°20). Another of these painted studies, dated 1829, is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la dentelle in Alençon. The brushstrokes are loosely rubbed, and the colours are vivid, against a clear sky, typical of the romantic Orientalist vision of the same period with painters such as Delacroix.