The Arabian Nights One Thousand and One Nights illustration by Leon Carre

The Story of Douce Amie. They went to lean their elbows upon a window.

The Secret Garden: While wandering through Baghdad, they find their way into a magnificent garden known as the "Garden of Delights" (or the Garden of Gladness), which belongs to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

The Palace of Pictures: They enter a beautiful pavilion within the garden that has eighty windows. Unaware that this is the Caliph’s private sanctuary, they open one of the windows to look out over the Tigris river and the lush gardens.

“The Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights)” illustration by Léon Carré is part of the celebrated 1920s illustrated edition of the Middle Eastern folktale collection Les Mille et Une Nuits. Carré’s work is known for its luminous colors, flowing compositions, and decorative Orientalist style influenced by Persian miniatures and Art Nouveau design. Created using watercolor and gouache for printed color plates, the illustrations evoke the fantastical world of sultans, palaces, and desert landscapes described in the stories of Scheherazade. The imagery blends romance, mystery, and exotic architectural detail, helping define the visual imagination of the legendary tales for modern readers.

French illustrator Léon Carré (1878–1942) was a prominent figure in early-20th-century book illustration, particularly known for Orientalist subjects. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he combined academic drawing with decorative color influenced by Islamic art and travel imagery. Carré’s most famous achievement is the richly illustrated 1926 edition of The Thousand and One Nights, produced with translator Joseph-Charles Mardrus. His work stands out for its elegant linework, dreamlike atmosphere, and intricate patterns, making it one of the most admired visual interpretations of the classic stories.