His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited the National Museum of Art of Romania

His Royal Highness at the National Museum of Art of Romania                                                                                                    Stavropoleos Church (1868)                        Fishmarket (1869)

On Wednesday 30 May 2018 His Royal Highness visited the National Museum of Art of Romania. During this private visit the Prince of Wales looked at works by Amedeo Preziosi from the museum’s Prints and Drawings Collection. The watercolours were made by Preziosi during or as a result of the trips he made to the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 1868 and 1869.

A painter and photographer born in Malta, Amedeo Preziosi (1816 – 1882) built an artistic career in Istanbul, where he served in the English embassy. His works were appreciated by all those traditionally praising the picturesqueness of the East as revealed by fascinated Western travelers and artists.

Preziosi visited the United Principalities twice in 1868 and 1869 upon the invitation of Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. On both occasions his drawings and watercolours vividly portrayed common people, their costumes and customs as well as various landscapes and monuments, a wonderfully rich cultural heritage we delight to rediscover today.