The captured thief 

Alfred Dehodencq made this painting of an Algerian scene in the mid-19th century, likely in oil on canvas. This canvas is a product of French Orientalism, a genre in which European artists represented the Middle East and North Africa according to their fantasies. It depicts a public whipping, an act of violence meant to uphold social order. But what kind of order? The painting creates meaning through exoticizing imagery, contrasting the dark skin of the thief with the lighter skin of the men who sit above and watch. Dehodencq, although French, had a relationship to Spain, where he lived for many years. Spain had its own history of Orientalism, and a fascination with North Africa was very present in Spanish culture at the time. To truly understand the image, historians can research 19th-century European attitudes toward North Africa by exploring the historical context of French colonialism in Algeria, as well as Dehodencq’s own biography. Art is contingent on these social contexts.