The rest of the nomads , circa 1830

Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 21.5 x 32 cm 

Perfectly composed, Marilhat's works live on the fidelity of a description especially concerned with rendering the luminosity of the Orient. Here the painter depicts the hot hours of the day. In the foreground, a man stretches his arm out towards the mountains as he addresses two men, seated under a tree. The spectator's gaze follows his finger, pointed towards the craggy mountain peaks. 

The painter adorns the men with brightly colored fabrics, which contrasts with the whiteness of the nomads' tent in the background. The tree gives a saving shade; it nuances the painter's palette and gives a feeling of realism to the scene. 

French Orientalism has long been reduced to a few names (Delacroix, Chassériau and Gérôme almost exclusively, Decamps for memory, Fromentin for Dominique ) so that we do not see with satisfaction the interest of focusing on other artists: Marilhat of course, but also Adrien Dauzats, Adrien Guignet, Léon Belly, Narcisse Berchère… Since the curiosity of historians has focused on their works, they are no longer strangers. 

Marilhat is a student of Roqueplan. Between 1831 and 1833, he was marked by the Orient thanks to the two-year trip he made to Greece and the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt), as a designer of scientific expedition of Baron de Hugel. 

At the Salon of 1834, the Place de l'Esbekieh (current location unknown) was hailed as a masterpiece of verism by Théophile Gautier: the painter's reputation was established (Théodore Chassériau painted his portrait, it is kept at the Musée du Louvre). From then on, he will never cease to draw on his memories and his sketchbooks to create new canvases. 

Bibliography: 

. Bruno Foucart, "Prosper Marilhat (1811-1847)", Encyclopædia Universalis online

. "Prosper Marilhat", Oxford Art Online 

. Théophile Gautier, “Prosper Marilhat”, Revue des deux mondes , n ° 23, 1848, p. 56-75

. Gabriel Marri, “Prosper Marilhat orientalist and Auvergne painter (1811-1847)”,  Le Mois littéraire et picturesque , February 1912, Paris

. Danièle Menu, P rosper Marilhat (1811-1847): study, correspondence, documents, catalog,  1978, Dijon