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Bashi-Bazouk

Jean-Léon Gérôme1868/1869

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States

This arresting picture was made after Gérôme returned to Paris from a twelve-week journey to the Near East in early 1868. He was at the height of his career when he dressed a model in his studio with textiles he had acquired during the expedition. The artist’s Turkish title for this picture—which translates as "headless"—evokes the unpaid irregular soldiers who fought ferociously for plunder under Ottoman leadership, although it is difficult to imagine this man charging into battle wearing such an exquisite silk tunic. Gérôme’s virtuosic treatment of textures provides a sumptuous counterpoint to the figure’s dignified bearing.

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  • Title: Bashi-Bazouk
  • Creator: Jean-Léon Gérôme
  • Type: painting
  • External Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Collection Online
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 31 3/4 x 26 in. (80.6 x 66 cm)
  • Date Created: 1868–69, 1868/1869
  • Culture: French
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2008
  • Creator Death Date: 1904
  • Creator Birth Date: 1824
  • Accession Number: 2008.459
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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