Collision of the Moorish Horsemen

Description Delacroix uses fluid brush work to capture the color and movement of an Arab Fantasia, or ceremonial cavalry charge, mimicking battle, which he witnessed at the court of Sultan Abd-er-Rahmen of Morocco (1778-1859) while accompanying Count Charles de Mornay on a diplomatic expedition on behalf of King Louis Philippe of France in 1832. He focuses on two riders who have broken from the ranks, their horses startled by the simultaneous firing of guns that ends the maneuver. "During their military exercises, which consist of riding their horses at full-speed and stopping them suddenly after firing a shot, it often happens that the horses carry away their riders and fight each other when they collide."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
10/20/1937	Examination	infrared spectroscopy
6/26/1962	Treatment	x-rayed; loss compensation; coated
5/29/1986	Examination	examined for loan
5/29/1996	Examination	examined for condition
8/01/1997	Treatment	stabilized

Exhibitions

• [Exhibition title unknown, held at Galerie des Beaux-Arts]. Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Paris. 1844.
• Eugène Delacroix, 1798-1863. Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. 1962-1963.
• Orientalism: Delacroix to Klee. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland. 1997-1998.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.
• 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. 2010-2011.
• Delacroix and the Matter of Finish. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham. 2013-2014.
• From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2014-2016.

Provenance Schwabacher (?) (date and mode of acquisition unknown); Sale M. de S. (Schwabacher (?)), May 5, 1877, no. 6; purchased by Arnold and Tripp, February 12, 1881 [1]; purchased by William T. Walters (through George A. Lucas as agent), Baltimore, May 9, 1883 [2]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931. [1] Arnold, Tripp et Compagnie, Livre d'entrée, no. 52 and Livre de Sortie, no. 1159, Collection of M. Dieterle [2] The Diary of George A. Lucas, p. 563.

Inscriptions [Signature] Lower left: Eug. Delacroix

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1883