Excursion of the Harem

At first glance, Jean-Léon Gérôme’s glassy rendering of Egypt’s fabled Nile River may seem as frozen as an insect trapped in amber. But look again. Gérôme has filled the scene with travelers in motion. While a sultan’s pleasure boat ferries his harem along the river, a camel caravan threads its way along the distant shore and a flock of birds crosses overhead. All the elements are orchestrated perfectly—a consonance of details where, even in motion, everything is put in exactly the right place. One of France’s most admired academic masters, Gérôme prided himself on paintings of extraordinary precision filled with delicate and poetic details.

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