Circa 1869-70 Inspired by 1869 Oil canvas 58,5x124,5cm of the Walters Art Museum Baltimore. This pretty finished painting appears to be a preparatory study for the one of 1870 kept at the Hermitage Museum St Petersburg Oil canvas 60x135cm. As in Hermitage piece, the elongated character wears an ornamental bracelet at  the top of the arm, as on the aquaforte published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts. The main difference apart from the size of the final version is the marabou with his head raised. Other changes were made from the 1869 1st version to the 1870 2nd version. Noticable is the position of the snake, the way it encircles an hare in our study has been deleted, colors and details have been adjusted, the seated man holds a rifle instead of a lute and upper right details like the background encampment were cancelled to let the viewer concentrate on main scene. 14 pages study & photos on serious requests