A Street in Damascus

This sketch was executed during Leighton’s visit to Damascus in autumn 1873. Although the artist admitted to being a little disappointed with the overall appearance of the place, in a letter to his father of the 18th October 1873, he adds: ‘of course there are, as in any eastern town, numberless delightful bits, and those ennobled as regularly as the day comes by a right royal sun and canopy of blue.’ It seems as though Leighton has focused upon such an area in this work, as he captures the quiet of a back street, overlooked by the arches and dome of an old mosque.