Girardet’s luminous, cinematic view of the nomadic life depicts a Berber tribe crossing the desert, following the course of a wadi or dried riverbed towards its next camp and watering place. The painting is as much a celebration of the stoicism and dignity of the self-sufficient tribesmen and women, shepherding their herd as they travel, as it is of the Saharan light: the juxtaposition of the deep shade in the foreground and the bright sunrise farther back, illuminating the dust thrown up by…
