Decamps put to good use, during his lifetime, the travelings notebooks from his stay in Turkey in 1827. He was much appreciated by the bourgeoisie, who preferred him to Delacroix, and was one of orientalism's leaders. During the 1855 Exposition Universelle, the critic Gustave Planche wrote: "The French school harbors three names that dominate all others ( …): Ingres, Delacroix, and Decamps". The Duke of Aumale was so fond of Decamps he chose to show this painting facing the Massacre of the Innocents of Poussin; he owned ten of his paintings and many drawings.
