While certain artists in the 17th and 18th centuries were inspired by an imaginary Orient as a pretext for painting female nudity and picturesque detail, it was the 19th century that Orientalism developed as a genre in its own right.This name designates the pictorial representation of landscapes, characters, or scenes from the Orient. Napoleon’s campaigns in Egypt and the discovery of its rich heritage of art and artefacts had initially generated the enthusiasm for all things Oriental from 1798 onwards. This interest reached its climax at the World exhibitions of 1855 and 1867. The Orientalist movement was represented by artists such as Girodet, Guérin, Géricault and Delacroix. Although the painter Ingres represented the classical trend in 19th century painting, he also painted subjects of Orientalist inspiration.
