Harem Guard

The Harem Guard by the Czech painter Rudolf Weisse (1869-1930). Despite it's not a decidedly history painting the whole oriental exotic setting suggests a far away place even in history.

Somewhere and Somewhen

This exotic scenery is by the Austrian painter Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932). Ernst was a famous orientalist painters and did here something which looks a little historical. But I think it doesn't matter. He was alsways looking fpr the exotic, the strange. So it's more a kindof pre-fantasy painting.

Orient meets History

Moorish Guard in the Alhambra by the Austrian painter Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932). Ernst lived in Paris and was one of the best orientalist painters. Here he combined an orientalist harem guard with a historical scene. But it's all the same, pure exotic fantasy.

The Palace Guard

The Palace Guard (1902) by the Austrian painter Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935).

Deutsch was a very successful orientalist painter and spent most of his career in Paris. To achieve highly detailed scenes he travelled various times to Egypt, took a lot of photographs and had a large collection of tiles, furniture, arms, pipes, fabrics, and costumes.
But nonwithstanding that he was very exact in the details of architecture and costumes his paintings are pure invention. They are glorifying an exotic oriental past, which never existed. But especially because of this combination Deutsch can be considered as one of the ancestors of modern fantasy art.

Entering Constantinople

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II "the Conqueror" entering Constantinople in 1453 by the French painter Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845-1902).

Entrée de Mehmed II dans Constantinople (1876)

Constant where had studied in Paris and was a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel. Later he traveled to Morocco and was strongly influenced by Orientalism. Probably because of that he took here more the romantic eastern perspective than the traditional western.

Oriental Rituals

The American painter Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928) was specialized in oriental subjects. Sometimes he added further a historical scenery. These two paintings underline the success of this method. The second (I don’t know which one was the first, but this doesn’t matter) is more or less a copy with some different columns and some persons more.

The Procession of the Bull Apis

The Procession of the Sacred Bull Anubis

Archaic Orient

Heads of the Rebel Beys at the Mosque of El Hasanein (1866) by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904).

Gérôme mixed oriental and historical subjects. Probably he depicts the end of a rebellion against Ali Pasha in the early 19th century. But the whole scenery and the costumes are so archaic that it could also have happened in much older times. But I think that this was the primary reason why Gérôme was so fascinated from the Orient.

History as Exoticism

The Diversion of an Assyrian King (1878) by the American painter Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928).

Bridgman was specialized on oriental and exotic subjects. With good success he mixed both in paintings about old Egypt. Here he went even further showing the Assyrian King killing lions in the arena, although it is to doubt that arenas like this existed in the Assyrian empire. It’s a nice and well done painting, but it’s pure fantasy.

A Moorish Excutioner

Execution Without Hearing Under the Moorish Kings in Granada (1870) by the French painter Henri Regnault (1843-1871).

One art historian wrote about this painting, that "the painter had played with the blood of the victim as if he were a jeweller toying with rubies." I think, that hits the nail on the head. Regnault was primarily interested in orientalistic and exotic subjects. He was inspired to this painting by old legends during his stay in Spain.