Portrait of the Colonized as a Femme Fatale: The Muhammadan Salomé in George Merle’s L’Envoûteuse (1883)

Lamia Ben Youssef Zayzafoon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, UAB

Tuesday, January 12, Noon
FREE

Dr. Zayzafoon examines the construction of the "Oriental woman" in this painting, new to the Museum's collection, through the intertwined discourses of Orientalism and anti-Semitism in 19th-century metropolitan France and its North African colonies.

More about this new acquisition:

L’Envoûteuse (The Sorceress), by George Merle (1851-1886), was the artist's submission to the Paris Salon exhibition of 1883. The commanding female figure in the act of performing a spell is likely a subject from literature, although the source is yet to be identified. The mysterious symbolism, including voodoo doll, pentacle, and Eygptian imagery, will be clarified when the origin of the story is known. Until then, the secrets of The Sorceress remain fascinating and perplexing.

The Museum is deeply grateful to siblings William Vann, Robert Vann, and Sally Worthen, whose gift in honor of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Allen Vann, continues their family's legacy of giving. Find this painting in the 19th-century European gallery!