Although born in Prague, Raphael von Ambros is considered one of the most significant Austrian Orientalist painters. Like his contemporaries Rudolf Ernst and Ludwig Deutsch, he was a student of Hans Makart at the Vienna Academy and later became known far beyond his city's borders for his masterful scenes of everyday life in Cairo.

Following Deutsch and Ernst, the artist settled in Paris where he found great success and a ready market for his Egyptian subjects. His compositions are painted with masterful and realistic details, elevating and incorporating these first-hand vignettes of daily life into unforgettable mementos of a foreign and fascinating world.