Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Scene of War in the Middle Ages
Edgar Degas French
Not on view
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.
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