Арест принца Дипонегоро

Raden Saleh was a Javanese nobleman's son who trained for years in Europe, and in 1857 he painted the moment his homeland lost its long war against the Dutch: the arrest of Prince Diponegoro on 28 March 1830, which ended five years of fighting across Java. He was answering an earlier canvas by the Dutchman Nicolaas Pieneman, who had titled his version the Submission of Diponegoro and shown the prince meekly giving himself up. Saleh called his the Arrest, and painted Diponegoro standing stiff with anger, his Javanese followers in accurate dress. He even enlarged the Dutch officers' heads slightly, just out of proportion. Saleh presented the finished work to the Dutch king, and historians still argue over where his loyalties really lay.