Delacroix’s fondness for opulent dramatic settings, which he knew from the work of the Venetian Renaissance artists as well as from that of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, was nourished by his trip to Morocco in 1832. There he discovered exotic motifs and the colourful splendour of the East, exemplified here by Arabian equestrian games, those wildness and excitement are expressed in colour, line, and composition. With this style of painting, Delacroix stood in conflict with the prevailing conception in France at the time, which held that art should be characterized by clarity of line.