Embassy Dragoman (Interpreter) Si Mohammad Benelkaab
1902
- graphite pencil and watercolours on paper. 47,7 x 34,6
- Р-14059
Received in 1930 from The State Hermitage Museum
- Period Late 19th century – Early 20th century
- CategoryPortrait
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On July 20, 1901, the First Moroccan Embassy, headed by the country's Foreign Minister Si Abdelkrim Benslimane, arrived in St. Petersburg. The event was extraordinary. Tensions in the interests of the European powers were acutely felt in relation to the territories of North Africa and, above all, Morocco. The young Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz sought to modernize the country while simultaneously trying to establish dialogue with the leading European powers. On July 23, 1901, the embassy was received by Emperor Nicholas II at the Great Peterhof Palace. The capital's press wrote about this, not forgetting to note the unusual appearance and national clothes of the embassy members, which aroused great interest. «They are dressed in white tunics and colorful Asian boots. Some people have original checkers hanging above their chiton, and a white cloak protrudes over the chiton. Everyone has a white turban on their heads, which is hidden in the folds of the cloak ». Soon Stepan Fedorovich Aleksandrovsky, a famous watercolor painter at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, painted a series of portrait images of members of the Moroccan Embassy. In total, the artist created 20 watercolor portraits, which were deposited in the Imperial Hermitage.