Delacroix’s Moroccan Masterpieces Celebrated at International Colloquium in Rabat

Magnified work, adored author. At the third session of an international colloquium organized from September 11 to 13 by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco at its headquarters, the work of Eugène Delacroix was commented on and celebrated. For Mohammed Faouzi Skali Alami, writer and specialist in Sufism, "The Jewish Wedding in Morocco" is a work attesting to the cultural and religious diversity, rooted in this country that marked the imagination and the imaginary of Eugène Delacroix.

According to the Sufi specialist, "The Jewish Wedding in Tangier" is like a reflection of the other Orient, that of a Judeo-Moorish celebration that goes beyond exoticism and contrasts with the variety of attitudes, customs and, above all, Judeo-Islamic religions.

"Before landing in Morocco, Delacroix had an exceptional fascination for the Orient," he recounts. "Thus, he undertook a journey under the auspices of the questioning of the self that will shock and fascinate him at the same time," comments the Sufi specialist.

Mohammed Faouzi Skali Alami also recalled Delacroix’s role at that time. Indeed, the painter accompanied the French diplomatic mission. He had refused to highlight the picturesque aspect of his works. Thus, he took a distance from this pictorial orientalism of the time to subjugate the gaze of the conqueror and disarm him in the face of an artistic work.

This work placed Sultan Moulay Abderrahman, emerging from his palace in Meknes, in a fantasmatic and imaginary vision of an Orient that is only the incarnation of the fears of the West and its sense of superiority, the Sufi specialist said.