Two groups of people face off in front of a hilly landscape in this loosely painted, vertical scene. On our left, a pale young man in a white tunic looks with eyes wide and lips parted at a group of three people on our right. The young man's right hand, on our left, is raised to stroke the head of a reddish-brown horse at his right shoulder. He stands with feet planted wide, knees bent, and he curls his left hand into a fist. Behind him, a man holds up a fluttering, light blue cape. A mottled red wall forms a backdrop to this scene on our left. The tight group gathered under a tree on our…
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Alexander and Bucephalus

painter Edgar Degas (French, 1834 - 1917)

1861/1862

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 115 x 89 cm (45 1/4 x 35 1/16 in.) ; framed: 139.7 × 107.95 × 12.7 cm (55 × 42 1/2 × 5 in.)
Culture
French
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CF
Credit line
Bequest of Lore Heinemann in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art