Battle Scene: Arabs Making a Detour
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
59 3/8 x 99 1/2 in. (150.8 x 252.7 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of John Wolfe, 1893
Accession Number
94.24.2
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Adolf Schreyer's *Battle Scene: Arabs Making a Detour* captures the raw energy of conflict in a vast Orientalist tableau. This monumental oil on canvas, measuring nearly 100 inches wide, depicts Arab warriors on horseback navigating rugged hills during a fierce battle. Schreyer, a 19th-century German painter, specialized in such dramatic scenes, drawing from his travels in Egypt and North Africa to evoke the chaos and heroism of cavalry charges. As a quintessential Orientalist work, the painting reflects Europe's 19th-century fascination with the "exotic" East, blending romanticism with milit...