Ernst was a pupil at the Vienna Academy in 1869, later travelling to Spain, Morocco and Turkey. 'From 1885 his compositions were almost entirely Orientalist, with Moroccan, Turkish or Hispano-Moorish backgrounds. His favourite themes were Nubian guards, mosque interiors, chess players, smokers of narghiles or chibouks, slave girls being caressed by masters, harem women doing embroidery or being decked out in finery.' L. Thornton, The Orientalists Painter-Travellers, 1828-1908, Paris, 1983, p. 224.