Gérôme exhibited this work together with Cleopatra before Ceasar in the Salon of 1866, and it originally belonged to the prominent American collector, William H. Stewart. At first glance, it is a gruesome scene showing an assemblage of severed heads of defeated rebel Beys who have been killed by Salek-Kachef. It was an Egyptian tradition to nail the heads of enemies to the portals of the city. However, East meets west in this macabre setting as it has been suggested that these dangling heads may portray some of Gérôme's most well-known Parisian critics! Gérôme made a preparatory drawing which included three guards standing at the right (see lot 261), and a painting showing the standing guard, this time dressed in a red garment which he dedicated to his student, Jean Richard Goubie (see Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, Nov. 25, 1981, lot 35).