Konstantin Makovsky visited North Africa several times. The artist's first trip to Cairo took place in 1872 on the advice of doctors due to his wife's illness. However, despite this sad circumstance, the artist worked hard, immersed in the unusual atmosphere of Eastern life. In October of the following year in St. Petersburg, he received an order for the painting «The Return of the Sacred Carpet from Mecca to Cairo» from the heir to Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III. And again in 1874 Makovsky went to the capital of Egypt with his younger brother Nikolai. The result of this trip was more than two hundred sketches, among which was a sketch of a large commissioned painting. In 1876, in Paris, where the artist lived for a long time, the second version of the painting «Transferring the Sacred Carpet in Cairo» (Russian Museum) was executed. In the same year, the canvas was exhibited at the Paris Salon. At the end of 1876, the artist made a trip to Africa for the third time, significantly expanding the route of his journey. He visited Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan and Abyssinia. Along with portrait sketches and landscape studies, Makovsky paid a lot of attention to genre compositions dedicated to the urban life of Cairo, which delighted the artist with its colorful and spicy atmosphere. This passion of Konstantin Makovsky for Egypt was shared by his brother Nikolai.