In the early 1860s, Degas experimented with history paintings which never left his studio. One example is the Semiramis Building Babylon which may have been an allusion to the radical redesign of Paris being undertaken by Baron Haussmann.
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas" class="extiw" title="w:Edgar Degas">Edgar Degas</a> (1834–1917)</div>
1861<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1861-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://fineartbiblio.com/artworks/edgar-degas/8222/semiramis-building-babylon">Fine Art Biblio - Semiramis Building Babylon</a>