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Rudolf von Eitelberger and Leopold Carl Müller 293 ist standards of outdoor light and shade for which on-site sketching and photogra- phy served as aids.5 By the 1870s this was a combination that Eitelberger sought to encourage in pedagogic instruction. At the same time, these pictures of working-class Egyptians exemplified Eitelberger’s views related to Volkskunst and genre painting as so- cial historical art rooted in Volksthümlichkeit, while providing a model for the Habsburg Empire of harmonious ethnically diverse Imperial (Ottoman) subjects who were peace- ful and relatively passive. Initial Contacts and Impressions Correspondence between Müller and Eitelberger began in March 1875 but the two were aware of each other much earlier, possibly through Müller’s father Leopold who was one of the foremost lithographers in Vienna, and certainly after Müller had become a student at the Academy of Fine Arts. An article on Eitelberger, accompanied by an engraved portrait, also appeared in 1863 in Waldheim’s Illustrirte Zeitung, a journal to which Müller contributed illustrations.6 During his first visit to Cairo, Müller men- tioned Eitelberger in a letter from 8  April 1874 to Laufberger, remarking that he had purchased costumes, rugs, antique Persian tiles, and embroideries that he was consid- ering donating to the Museum of Art and Industry.7 In May 1874 Müller, while briefly in Constantinople, instructed Laufberger to tell Eitelberger that he was shortening his trip (previous plans had included Damascus and Jerusalem) so that he could return to Vienna quickly and immediately begin work on several canvases.8 At some point in 1874 Eitelberger offered Müller a teaching position at the Academy, which he refused.9 Eitelberger would not have been initially willing to support or recruit Müller with- out an appreciation of his previous work, which, in 1875, comprised political and eth- 5 For illustrations and discussions of the photographs used by Müller in Markt in Cairo see Inspira- tion Fotografie. Von Makart bis Klimt (ed. M. Faber/A. Husslein-Arco ; exh. cat. Vienna, Bel- vedere), Vienna 2016, pp.  96–101. Eitelberger approved of photography as a technological aid for painters. See R. Eitelberger von Edelberg, Der Kupferstich und sein Verhältniß zur Gegenwart mit besonderer Rücksicht auf österreichische Zustände, in : Österreichische Revue, 1, 1863, pp.  244– 261. A summary of Eitelberger’s view expressed in this essay written by Fr. Lukas was published in Zeitschrift für Fotografie und Stereoskopie, 1863, and is reproduced in Faber/Husslein-Arco (eds.), Inspiration Fotografie, pp.  111–114. 6 Unsigned article, R. Eitelberger von Edelberg, in : Waldheim’s Illustrirte Zeitung, No.  85, 15  August 1863, pp.  1015 f. 7 Müller to Laufberger, 8  April 1874, in : Zemen (ed.), Leopold Carl Müller (cit. n.  2), p.  187. 8 Müller to Laufberger, 18  May 1874, ibid., p.  187. 9 Ibid., pp.  270 f.