The scene depicts a colonnaded inner courtyard of a complex of old buildings, the main focus on a relatively short, but distinctive, octagonal tower or minaret, with the dome of a mosque visible beyond.
Eugene Napoleon Flandin (1803-1876), was an orientalist painter who studied under Horace Vernet. In 1840, he was sent on a mission to Persia in order to gather information on the evolution of the country under the reign of Mohammad Chah Qadjar. Accompanied by the architect and painter Pascal Coste, they created a a pictorial record of the ancient and modern monuments throughout modern day Iran, Syria and Turkey. They visited Hamadan, Ispahan, ancient Persepolis, then finally Mossoul, and Constantinople. Upon their return they compiled an album of six volumes entitled 'Voyage en Perse'. Flandin returned to the Middle East in 1844, this time to Mesopotamia. He then published another album of his Middle East travels, 'L'Orient', in 1856 in four volumes. He exhibited at the Paris Salon, obtaining a second place medal in 1837. He was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honour in 1842. His works have been displayed in museums in Auch, Caen, Lille, Marseille, La Roche-sur-Yon, Rouen and Versailles.

Watercolour and gouache on paper, 26 x 12 cm, signed "Eug. Flandin" lower left corner, mounted at edges onto a contemporary ink-ruled support sheet, this covered by a later gilt slip and silk-faced mount, framed and glazed (53.5 x 45.5 cm).