Franz Eisenhut

Franz Eisenhut was a prominent realist and orientalist painter from Austria-Hungary.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Munich until 1883 and left behind him a large collection of paintings depicting scenes from the Orient and inspired from his travels. His work gained progressive popularity through exhibitions in Budapest, Munich, Paris and Madrid, and his pieces on oriental scenes will remain regarded for their authenticity and detail.

He mostly drew scene of social life from regions and cities in the Middle East and North Africa. His first very successful painting was "The Healer, Beirut" (1886), originally titled "Healing through the Koran in Beirut", and portrays a healer performing a ritual or treatment to its patient, also involving recitations of the Quran.

He produced the same year one of his most notable pieces: "Death of Gül Baba" (1886), which represents the final moments of Gül Baba’s life, surrounded by mourners and Ottoman officials. Gül Baba, whose tomb is in Budapest, was an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet from the 16th century.

The "Battle of Zenta" (1896) remains his most notorious work: a massive painting created for Hungary’s Millennium Exhibition. It depicts a decisive 1697 battle and remains one of the largest oil paintings in the Balkans.