In December 1847, Abd el-Kader, head of the Algerian resistance to French occupation, was forced to surrender and was imprisoned in France. For four years he was moved between various holding sites in France until finally he was transferred to the Château d’Amboise in November 1848. These years in captivity were difficult for Abd-el-Kader and his entourage, owing to the French climate and poor conditions at Amboise. The prisoners were however placed under the benevolent guard of Captain Boissonnet and allowed to live according to their customs.
The courage and strength of character that Abd el-Kader demonstrated during his exile in France won him a great deal of respect, notably from Louis-Napoleon. On becoming Prince-President, the latter delivered Abd el-Kader his freedom on 16 October, 1852. This event was later immortalised by the painter Ange Tissier.
The scene depicts the moment when Abd el-Kader, upon learning of his release, presents his mother to Louis-Napoleon. The Emir’s mother, Lalla Zohra, who accompanied Abd el-Kader during his captivity, is portrayed as she respectfully pays obeisance to her liberator. On the left of the painting, Louis-Napoleon is accompanied by ministers Saint-Arnaud Armand, Federico Barocci, the Comte de Goyon and the Comte Roguet.
Ange Tissier, like his colleague Eugène Fromentin, was fascinated by Algeria and produced a number of works which display this influence, including “Odalisque et sa servante au harem” (1860) and a portrait of Abd el-Kader (1852). He was also an official painter for the regime, one of his best-known paintings being “Visconti presenting his project for the completion of the Louvre to the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress, 1853” (1865).
Emmanuelle Papot (tr. H.D.W.)
September 2008