Head of a Lion

John Frederick Lewis painted life in Cairo in extraordinary detail: carved wooden screens, patterned tiles, silks, bazaars, courtyards and sunlight filtering through lattice windows. He was the most meticulous of the British Orientalist painters. Born in London, he began as an animal painter and watercolourist. In the early 1830s he travelled in Spain and Morocco, publishing popular books of Spanish sketches that earned him the nickname “Spanish Lewis”. From 1841 to 1851 he lived in Cairo in a traditional house, dressing and living much like a local gentleman, and he drew the streets and interiors around him. Back in England he spent the rest of his life turning these studies into finished paintings in watercolour and oil. His work is in Tate Britain and the Royal Collection. In A Cairo Bazaar and A View of the Street and Mosque of Ghorreyah, Cairo, look for the play of light and shadow on carved wood and stone.