Images of the Self and the Other as an Artist: Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Memoirs of the Knight of Arvieux

The article studies the representation of foreign arts in the Memoirs of the knight of Arvieux, published posthumously in 1735. Through learning to paint and then practising music in the Orient, the author, who for a long time acted as consul, demonstrates his interest in the Eastern artistic universe. Painting his own portrait and then striving to portray others in his writings, Arvieux moves towards an exploration and appreciation of Arabic music, which he strives to restore, thus ascribing an intercultural social role to art.