Description:

This painting depicts the aftermath of a real-life duel that occurred in Paris between a former police commissioner and an elected official. The fight was notorious not only because of the high-profile combatants but also because they were wearing costumes, donned for a ball earlier in the evening. The wounded man, for instance, is dressed as Pierrot, the quintessential sad clown from Italian pantomime comedy. The victor, walking away on the far right, is dressed as a Native American. He leaves behind his weapon and some feathers from his headdress in the bloodstained snow.

Jean-Léon Gérôme emphasized the theatricality of the scene by grouping his main figures in the foreground of a stage-like space. The painting bears an inscription to Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, a Turkish diplomat who was its first owner.