El zuavo sentado

In June 1888, newly settled in Arles in the south of France, Van Gogh got a young soldier to sit for him. The man belonged to the Zouaves, French infantry regiments first raised for the war in North Africa and known for their bright uniforms. A company of them was garrisoned in the town. Van Gogh set him against a red floor and a green door with orange brickwork, and wrote to his brother Theo that it was a harsh, clashing combination he found hard to manage, calling the effect savage. The gold braid and red cap gave him exactly the strong colour he was chasing that summer. The soldier sits with one hand on his knee, filling the frame.