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1875 painting by Edwin Long

The Babylonian Marriage Market is an 1875 painting by the British painter Edwin Long. It depicts a scene from Herodotus' Histories of young women being auctioned into marriage in the area then known as Babylon or Assyria. It received attention for its provocative depiction of women. Long's use of historical detail to make the painting engaging yet relatable has been highly regarded. The work was purchased by Thomas Holloway in 1882 and is owned by Royal Holloway, University of London.

Edwin Long was a portrait painter who was highly reclusive, shying away from public appearances and publicity. He is noted to have painted more large scale paintings than any of his peers from the English Royal Artistic Academy. This success as well as his persisting interest in Egyptian History led to further travels including Egypt in his later years. The Married Women's Property Act 1870 gave women the right to retain property even once they were married. This was regarded as significant as prior to the law property of a married woman would be immediately given to the husband. Holloway College notes that while this law was a significant improvement from the previous one, many women remained uncontented and demanded greater reform.

Bohrer, a leading Art Historian and Archaeologist notes that The Babylonian Marriage Market was ground breaking in Long's use of Western painting tradition and Eastern myth. The English artistic audience of the time had been exposed to Babylonian / Assyrian subject matter on a range of earlier occasions.

The Babylonian Marriage Market painting is 172.6 cm high and 304.6 cm wide. Oil on canvas is the medium used. Realism was a popular form of painting in the Victorian era, that was received well by art audiences. The Victorian Art World, and English art academy considered realism to be a high art. To their left stands an auctioneer, presenting the woman to be sold. In the background of the image a crowd of men has gathered and is engaged in bidding on the women. The crowd features men that appear to come from different wealth levels and classes, and they are consumed by an array of different activities. It is argued that Long conflates Babylon and Assyria, creating a hybrid eastern setting. the academic standard of translation at the time of painting. Imogen Hart points out that Herodotus describes the event taking place in the heart of a village, not an auction house, with the men of the village standing in a circle around the women, not a line. She further observes that Long's painting however, is set in a building reminiscent of a modern auction house, the men gathering in a line, not a circle. Bohrer attributes this divergence of Herodotus' translation to Long's own artistic freedom or reimagining of the fable, which contains this linear arrangement and equal arrangement of the brides as depicted by Long. She posits that a core feature of the painting is Long's purposeful obscuring of the faces of the ugliest and most beautiful brides. The art critic John Ruskin praised the painting and highlighted the similarity between its subject matter and modern European marriage practices, which Ruskin thought were also mercenary and immoral. It is noted that audiences at the time had a taste for exotic eastern artefacts and narratives. The work was displayed in a gold painted frame. The frame was embossed with numeric Roman numeral script, each numeral encased in a circle which was positioned directly below each bridal figure in the painting.]]

The current owners of the painting, The Royal Holloway College, note how the painting became a symbol and discussion point for women's rights during the 1870s. and it is recreated in the historical sequence in The Marriage Market (1923).

The Babylonian Marriage Market was thought to be well received from the financial perspective, selling for a then record breaking £6,605. Art journalists at the time were noted to be absorbed in the ancient narrative. Media at the time of display applauded Long's placement of historical detail within the work. Satirical versions of the painting were created and distributed, for example an 1876 cartoon published in the Punch Pocket Book, which showed Mr Punch, a popular comic cartoon character of the time, auctioning for sale young women and other comic characters. Academics note that the work, through its political social critique, prompted greater political reform and discussion about women's rights to own property, goods and currency. The painting was inspired by a passage in the Histories by Herodotus, and the artist copied some of the images from Assyrian artefacts in the British Museum. The composition is also influenced by Victorian painting auctions. The Graphic notes Long's enduring inspiration borne from myth and events from ancient History, especially those described by Herodotus. Bohrer notes how Long, either consciously or unconsciously, incorporates the theme of vision and the gaze in The Babylonian Marriage Market, themes which are distinctly explored in early western depictions of Babylonian Life, this theme is highlighted in an annotation of the work making clear this theme of the gaze. The painting incorporated several designs known from ancient artifacts. The motif of a carved stone with handle, probably of Elamite origin, and found in a foundation deposit of the Sumerian king A'annepada (circa 2500 BCE), was reused in the decoration of the white platform at the center of the painting.