As European countries started to colonize Africa, and Asia their curiosity grew bigger towards the cultures of their colonies. Furthermore, they become much more interested in cultures of Middle Eastern countries like Ottoman Empire. The painting I am going to talk about today is Bachi-Bouzouk Négre by Jean- Léon Gérome because I believe that Gérome’s intentions for painting this picture went beyond his interest in the Ottoman Culture. As historically presented, European countries started to colonize African countries, which led them to bring slaves to Europe from their colonies. Since Slavery was banned in some parts of Europe, We can assume that some people realized that slavery was a immoral thing to do. However, majority of the Europe carried on their slave trade because it was very profitable. I personally believe that Gérome portrayed an African man in Ottoman soldier uniform because he wanted to convey that slavery was not justifiable. Soldiers had a higher status in Ottoman Empire and it was well known among European countries so I believe that Gérome took it upon himself to portray that if Ottomans were treating Africans just like any of their citizens, European countries should to the same because it was the right thing to do. Which makes me believe that some of the artist had a greater reason investigate and portray African and Asian cultures than just curiosity. Looking at the painting we see that an African male is holding a rifle and he is dressed up in a uniform that is made off of a relatively expensive material that could be a way for Gérome to convey the status of the African male. Furthermore, looking at the face of the man,  we can see that he looks rather aggressive, which could reflect his power. The reason I picked this painting is because contrary to most of the paintings that include African individuals, this painting is one of the few, which depicts them in a relatively noble way by themselves. One reason that confuses me about this picture is that, I do not see why Gérome would not paint a picture of an African tribe leader if he wanted to depict African man as someone powerful. I think the reason is because Ottoman Empire is much more accessible to European artists. Furthermore, Ottoman Empire is known for bringing African man to Anatolia to employ them as soldiers so it could be assumed that it was easier for Gérome to find an African man that has some sort of status in Ottoman Empire and he wanted to show his countryman that African people are much more capable of just being salves and serving the nobility.