Conformation and the Parade Ring · At the Rail
Race Horses Before the Stands
Edgar Degas, c. 1866–1868 · oil on canvas
What it is
The field wheeling before the off — Degas at the rail, painting nerves instead of speed.
Why it matters
The racecourse gave modern painting its restlessness; Degas found the drama in the waiting.
What to notice
The shadows run the wrong way for comfort — tension, cast on the turf.
The race is decided in the parade ring’s heartbeats.
Provenance
- Maker
- Edgar Degas, c. 1866–1868
- Era
- The Victorian Turf (1837–1901)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1868
- Source
- Musée d’Orsay, Paris (RF 1981) · scan by Sailko, CC BY 3.0 · RF 1981
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-20. Painting is public domain; the only high-res Commons scan is an in-gallery photograph by Sailko under CC BY 3.0 — attributed on the source line. Offered as a digital file until an open-access museum scan is sourced.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 11x17" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Whistlejacket
Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath
The Horse Fair
Mr E. J. Irwin's Foig-a-Ballagh, Winner of the 1844 St Leger
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.