...in Oedipus, an outdoor scene in brilliant sunlight, General Bonaparte sits on his steed in silent conversation with the Sphinx, located in the upper center in direct sunlight with light blue shadows on one side of her face. She rises into a slightly darker blue sky and is surrounded with the lighter blue shadows of the rocks scattered over the bright sands of the desert. The sureness with which Gérôme draws and colors Bonaparte and his horse, to balance with the Sphrinx and to simultaneously show his silent communication with her, is remarkable. (http://www.nccsc.net/essays/revelatory-g%C3%A9r%C3%B4me-exhibition-getty)