# Alexander and Bucephalus **Edgar Degas** (French, 1834–1917) 1861/1862 oil on canvas 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.) Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997.57.1. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.101776.html). ## About this work The young Alexander raises a hand to the head of the chestnut horse Bucephalus, which no one else at the Macedonian court could master; according to Plutarch, he succeeded by turning the animal towards the sun so that it could not see its own shadow. Across the way a group gathers under a tree to watch, among them a balding older man. Degas painted it in the early 1860s, when he still hoped to make his name with classical themes. Changes are visible, such as a pair of raised arms whose head has been painted out, and the loose handling hints at the modern painter to come. _Written by Ochre Editions._ Edgar Degas painted this in 1861/1862, aged about 27. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. ### What you’re looking at 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 right stares back at the young man. The trio is made up of a balding, older man, a light-skinned boy also wearing a white tunic, and, closest to us, a brown-skinned woman wearing a marigold-orange shirt and a maroon-red skirt. Behind this group, a pair of pale raised arms suggests a fourth person, but the head is missing or has been painted over. The ground under the people is saffron orange. In the center of the picture, beyond the people, a group of horses stands near a green bank by a river, its surface reflecting white. The far bank is lined with white buildings. Tan and olive-green slopes rise from the opposite riverbank under a pale blue sky with cream-white clouds sweeping along the top edge of the composition. The artist signed his name in red paint in the lower right corner: “Degas.” _Description from the National Gallery of Art._ ### How it was made - **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled. ### [Edgar Degas](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edgar-degas) French, 1834–1917; born in Paris; died in Paris Degas trained in the academic tradition, admired Ingres and spent three years in Italy copying earlier art, but turned to modern Paris for his subjects: dancers, racecourses, laundresses, milliners and café singers. He helped organise the Impressionist exhibitions and showed in all but one, yet preferred to call himself a realist. Working from drawing and memory rather than outdoors, he composed with unexpected cropping and viewpoints, and in later years worked mostly in pastel as his eyesight failed. _Written by Ochre Editions._ ## Facts - Type: Painting - The artist was about 27 - Real size: about 45 × 35 in (115 × 89 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 24 × 36 in, so every print is a reduction. - Century: 19th century - Movement: [Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/impressionism) - Subjects: Bucephalus, classical, Alexander the Great - Colour: brown - Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose. ## Get it - Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1638.jpg?dl=1 - Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1638/1920.jpg - Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108 - Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258 - Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148 - Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5 Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/alexander-and-bucephalus-nga-101776).