On This Dome is a Brazen Horseman, Mounted on a Brazen Horse, from "The Story of the Third Kalandar," in "The Arabian Nights"

Edward Julius Detmold

1922 · Watercolor · Drawings and Prints

A shipwrecked king gazes through mist at a magical brass sculpture atop a pavilion. The related "Arabian Nights" tale recounts how Agib, son of King Casib, loses his vessel when its nails are pulled out by the magnetic power of the infamous Black Mountain. Waking unharmed, the king prepares to scale the peak and shoot down the statue, which will cause the sea to rise over the dangerous peak. Subsequent adventures bring Agib great happiness, followed by loss when he cannot resist temptation. Finally he becomes a Sufi dervish (or kalandar) and tells his story. Detmold manipulates colors and softens the focus to create a surreal atmosphere that relies upon the tradition of fantastic imagery developed in England by the Pre-Raphaelites and the Victorian watercolorists.

Artist

Edward Julius Detmold

Date

1922

Medium

Watercolor

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of James David Draper, from the Robert Isaacson Collection, 2014