Artwork

Women greeting travellers by throwing barley to them, observed near the village of Ciala Kavak [Kawak] in Bulgaria

Women greeting travellers by throwing barley to them, observed near the village of Ciala Kavak [Kawak] in Bulgaria is a watercolor work on paper by the Romanticist artist Luigi Mayer. It dates from 1794 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

About this work

Overview

Luigi Mayer's 1794 watercolour captures a traditional greeting ceremony near the Bulgarian village of Ciala Kavak, where women throw barley to welcome travelers.

Subject & Meaning

The scene conveys a local Ottoman custom, as documented in Mayer's subsequent writings, depicting women in traditional attire (long skirts, headscarves) enthusiastically greeting horse-mounted travelers with barley, accompanied by gestures of welcome (waving, clapping) under a thatched roof, highlighting everyday life and cultural exchange.

Technique & Style

Executed in watercolour, the work emphasizes movement and spontaneity, characteristic of Mayer's travel sketches, with simple, rough renderings of architecture (thatched roof, dirt path) focusing on the dynamic interaction between the travelers and the welcoming group.

History & Provenance

Created during Mayer's 1794 Balkan journey with Ainslie's entourage, en route from Constantinople to England, this piece is part of a series; similar contemporaneous works (including a July 4, 1794, piece) reside in a private London collection.

Context

Reflecting the artistic values of the emerging Romantic era, which prioritized realistic, everyday scenes over idealized representations, Mayer's sketch offers a vivid glimpse into 18th-century Balkan life and cultural practices.

Various Figures and Landscapes: A Group of Polish Gentlemen, Stefano Della Bella

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Artist & collection

Artist

Luigi Mayer

Luigi Mayer (1755–1803) was an Italian-German artist and one of the earliest and most important late 18th-century European painters of the Ottoman Empire.