an illustrated chapter from alexandre dumas' novel, the count of monte cristo. the chapter is called itally: sinbad the sailor. in it, franz, a young french gentleman moors his boat off the island of monte cristo, an apparently barren, deserted mound of rock. at night he and his men are discovered at their fire, and he is invited to dine with a mysterious host. he is led blindfolded into a cave that is richly decorated in exotic middle eastern fashion. his host calls himself sinbad the sailor, and, in keeping, franz calls himself aladdin. the two men dine on pheasant, corsican blackbirds, wild boar, goat, turbot and lobster, of which "sinbad" barely touches. then he convinces franz to try hashish in the form of a luminous green paste. he hallucinates that he's had an orgy with two beautiful women that just moments ago where the two stone statues holding baskets of fruit. the next morning franz wakes on a straw bed outside the cave, and sinbad is far on the horizon. he and his men search in vain for the entrance to the enchanted cave, but leave disappointed.
obviously the pieces i've posted are rather scattered and ambiguous in their relation to the story just relayed. one day, one day! gouache, oil, ink, china paper, and velum on parchment
the best
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