This black and white illustration after a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) shows an interior in Cairo with a female sabre dancer as protagonist, surrounded by men and accompanied by a drummer. A stucco and glass window with a floral motif can be seen in the recess at the top left of the illustration.
The original painting Danse du sabre by Gérôme may be lost; certainly, its current location is unknown. The oil painting is only known today from a black and white reproduction published in the French magazine Le Figaro illustré in 1901 (no. 136, p. 24). Le Figaro illustré was a supplement to the French daily newspaper Le Figaro and was published from 1883. In the July issue of 1901, a multi-page essay with numerous colour and black and white illustrations was dedicated to the French Orientalist painter Gérôme, entitled ‘J.-L- Gérome [sic]. Peintre de l’Orient’.
Le Figaro illustré 19 (1901), Nr. 136.