Detail of Scene of War in the Middle Ages by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: Scene of War in the Middle Ages

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca. 1865

Geography: Country of Origin France

Culture: French

Medium: Oil on paper mounted on canvas

Dimensions: 32 7/8 × 58 7/16 in. (83.5 × 148.5 cm)
Framed: 41 1/8 × 64 15/16 in. (104.5 × 165 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Musée d'Orsay, Paris (RF 2208)


Degas made his Salon debut with this painting in 1865, the same year in which Manet presented Olympia. Unlike his friend’s scandalous submission, it went essentially unnoticed. The enigmatic painting, which was later erroneously called The Misfortunes of the City of Orléans, perhaps referencing New Orleans, has been read as an allegory of the American Civil War. Degas had a familial connection to that conflict; his mother, Célestine Musson, came from New Orleans, and the Mussons made visits to Paris before and after Union forces captured their city in 1862. Though ambitious, this canvas did not meet the expectations of the Salon, and the artist subsequently abandoned history painting.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/845048