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
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...