HISTORY OF EGYPTIAN ART

MUHAMMAD ALI

MALAK HAMMAD
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 Who
is Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the
Sudan(1769 –1849), was the Albanian
Ottoman governor and de facto ruler
and King of Egypt from 1805 to 1848.
At the height of his rule, he controlled
Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, Sudan and
parts of Arabia and the entire Levant.
Though not a modern nationalist, he is
regarded as the founder of modern
Portrait of Muhammad Ali Egypt.
by David Wilkie
 Henri Alfred Jacquemart (1824-1896) was
French sculptor and animalier. He traveled in
Egypt and Turkey, and was commissioned by
the city of Alexandria, Egypt, to create a
colossal statue of Muhammad Ali of Egypt.

Jacquemart was highly recommended by Comte

Alfred-Émilien de Nieuwerkerke (1811–92),
superintendent of fine arts under Napoleon III
for the sculpture of Muhammad Ali.

Henri Alfred Jacquemart

(1824-1896)
 Statue of Muhammad Ali
Equestrian Statue of Muhammad ‘Ali,
Date: 1873
Material: Bronze.
Tahrir Square, Alexandria

• In the late 1860s, Khedive Isma‘il of Egypt commissioned

royal equestrian statues depicting his father and grandfather
to be erected in the modernized squares of Cairo and
Alexandria.

• Isma‘il was possibly inspired by the equestrian statues that

he saw in Paris, especially those commemorating Henry IV,
Louis XIII, and Louis XIV that belonged to a tradition
established by the Bourbon monarchy as early as the
seventeenth.

• With a strong, youthful physique and piercing gaze, in the

act of guiding a calmly advancing horse

Still standing – Muhammad Ali

Equestrian Statue in Alexandria
The khedive chose a Whatever his immediate
typical western symbol inspiration, it is clear that
of power, the Isma‘il resolved to pioneer his
equestrian statue, and family’s own tradition of
had it carefully adapted royal equestrian statues as a
and modified to make means of glorifying Egypt’s
his modern Egyptian ruling dynasty. That Isma‘il
dynasty’s independence chose to commemorate his
visible to the European family instead of glorifying
powers and to the himself, unlike most
Ottoman Empire, as European monarchs who were
well as to his urban interested in elevating only
elites themselves
 It was the first statue
unveiled in public anywhere
in the Middle East

The initial design of the foot of the pedestal

of Muhammad ‘Ali’s statue, featuring four
lions on the four corners, was changed. A
letter issued from the cabinet of the khedive
addressed to Sherif Pasha, the minister of the
interior, states that “Jacquemart thought that
the four lions ordered for the pedestal will
have a mediocre effect and, by enlarging
them, they would be more appropriate to be
placed at each side of the Qasr al-Nil
Bridge” in Cairo
 a turban and a gray
beard
Muhammad Ali dressed in
Mamluk clothing

Muhammad Ali’s horse

decorated with the dynasty’s
The horse is in walking position with
royal emblem
the right foreleg raised
At its core, Alexandria still honors this
rich past offering pride of place to the
man who did more than any single
individual to modernize the city. In Al-
Manshiya Square, which was known as
the Place Des Consuls during the 19th
century, the towering equestrian statue of
Muhammad Ali Pasha still stands today.
This is as it should be since it was
Muhammad Ali who was responsible for
the square’s construction and the
resurrection of Alexandria.

Rising above – Muhammad Ali’s

Equestrian Statue in the Place
des Consuls 1882
 opinion
The statue itself is very well designed with a strong and youthful
physique and what could’ve been a strategic placement back then, but
what could be a slight issue at the moment is precisely its location. The
area is very neglected, not giving the equestrian art the image it once
had. Considering the statue is of great importance with it being the first
statue ever unveiled in public in the middle east and since Muhammad
Ali had such a great role in making Egypt a modernized country, I think
the government should take into consideration renewing the area,
maybe then the statue wouldn’t just another neglected monument in the
streets of Alexandria.
 sources
#1
https://equestrianstatue.org/muhammad-ali/

#2
https://europebetweeneastandwest.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/the-u
city-muhammad-ali-pasha-the-making-of-modern-alexandria-part

#3
file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/NCAW_1042.pdf