Italian motifs play an important role in Decamps’ art. Interpretations of Italian scenes by this French romanticist seem to reflect an influence of his Oriental studies. His manner of recapturing the interplay of light and shadow developed during his eastward journey in the 1820s, and it still comes into play in “Italian Street Scene” painted in 1849. Unsurprisingly, the first title of this painting was “Street in the Oriental Country.” The similarity in Decamps’ interpretations of Italian and Oriental motifs underlie this complexity. Street scenes in both cultures are rendered in a generalized manner, with sharp light and shade contrasts, a refined palette, and strong linear structure. Honoré de Balzac highly valued Decamps’ art. He wrote: “Decamps’ brush is as mesmerizing as Paganini’s bow.”