A Pioneer of Western Portraiture in Egypt: The Life and Art of Michel Rigo Michel Rigo, born in Genoa, Italy in 1772 and passing away in 1815, occupies a unique position in the annals of art history. He wasn’t merely an artist who depicted Napoleon's Egyptian campaign; he was arguably the first Western portraitist to truly immerse himself within Egyptian society during that period, capturing its people with a sensitivity and detail previously unseen in European representations. While many artists documented the grand spectacle of battles and landscapes, Rigo focused on the faces – the sheikh…