Giulio Rosati

(b. 1858, Rome, Italy; d. 1917) Italian painter. Giulio Rosati studied painting at the Academy of Rome. Working mainly in watercolor, and sometimes in oil, Rosati focused nearly his entire painting career on Orientalist art, and was part of a large group of painters at the time, who were depicting similar Middle Eastern subjects. This was a time of greater accessibility to the Middle East, and even though Rosati himself never went, he was able to create his images using photographs, literature, engravings, Oriental carpets, clothes, and objects brought back from travelers. Orientalist painting became increasingly popular among American and British collectors toward the end of the 18th century as souvenirs of their exotic travels.