Willem de Famars Testas
(Utrecht 1834 – Arnhem 1896)
Bab'el Zoueleh au Cairo
Annotated Bab lower right
Titled on the reverse
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 23.2 x 17.3 cm (image size) / 24.1 x 23 (sheet size)
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the family of the artist, then by descent to the present owner
Note:
Bāb is Arabic for 'door' or 'entrance'; from bawwaba (translated: “to divide into chapters or sections”). Bab Zuweila is one of three remaining gates in the walls of the Old City of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman period, and is sometimes spelled Bab Zuwayla. It is considered one of the major landmarks of the city and is the last remaining southern gate from the walls of Fatimid Cairo in the eleventh and twelve century.