Art-Belly-Pilgrims Going to Mecca TB

This trackable has the goal to survive more than five years and be dropped by at least 25 cachers. I maintain records on all my trackables. In the years 2010-22, I released 5,223 trackables. Of these, a total of 4,268 were released only in North America (NAO, meaning chiefly the United States) and never left the region, which includes Canada, Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean. Another 304 trackables were released outside North America (EUO, meaning chiefly Europe) and were never dropped in North America. Still another collection of 651 trackables had drops both in and outside North America. Statistics for the two former cohorts are as follows: % Missing; NAO-71.0, EUO-48.0; Maximum Drops; NAO-55.0, EUO-67.0; Average Total Drops, NAO-5.3, EUO-12.5; Average Drop Rate per Year, NAO-4.6, EUO-7.2. As of 12-Mar-26 this trackable has survived for 12.9 years and had been moved by 14 cachers, for an average drop every 335 days, or 1.1 drops per year. Please keep it moving, then drop it in a safe place!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the U.S., please drop it at an event, in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban, non-premium cache. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Léon Auguste Adolphe Belly (1827–1877) was chiefly a French landscape painter.  In 1850-51 he travelled to Greece, Syria, and the Black Sea.  In 1853 he made his debut at the Paris Salon, exhibiting four landscapes of Nablus and Beirut, and of the shores of the Dead Sea, which attracted critical acclaim.  In 1855-56 he visited Egypt, traveling up the Nile in the company of another painter, Edouard Imer. A second trip to Egypt in 1856 was largely spent making studies for this painting, Pilgrims Going to Mecca.   We saw it in October 2012 in the Musée d'Orsay.  It is a very large, striking work and dominates the salon in which it is displayed.