The choices and representations of Ottoman territories and their inhabitants in 19th century Orientalist painting, this paper argues, were in many ways instrumental for the construction of European identity. A comparative analysis of over 350 paintings by more than 70 different artists showed similar psychological mechanisms playing similar role in diverse representations. These psychological mechanisms shaped the way Westerners looked at the Orient and, in turn, reveal the complexities that shaped 19th century European identity and its most prominent inner conflicts. The paper sees Orientalist painters as part of a large group of artists and intellectuals that shared common values, beliefs and ideas, which underlay nineteenth-century European identity. Such an identity went beyond local differences and particularities. As part of the larger process of consolidating a broader European identity, this group of painters used “High Art” as a means to define the Orient and especially it’s Muslim inhabitants people as its ultimate “other”. This paper claims that the psychological mechanisms seen in these paintings are response to a sense of anxiety, either caused by the "otherness" of life in the Ottoman territories these painters encountered in their travels, or in response to the tremendous social and economic changes and consequential social economic and political tensions in Europe at the time. Anxiety is an emotional state manifested in universal physiological and psychological symptoms. Analytical psychologists see settled mental boundaries between “self” and “other” as fundamental to the individuals’ sense of security and stability and claim that any encounter, real or imaginary, with an “other” challenges these boundaries and can therefore result in anxiety. Defense mechanisms are developed in response to anxiety and enable individuals to justify their actions and thoughts when encountering an “other” in a way that preserves their identity, mental boundaries, emotional stability and ability to function. A textual analysis of these paintings which integrates Art History, Social psychology and theories of inter-cultural encounter, will show how the encounter of these painters with the “other” they found in the Ottoman territories was a source of anxiety for some and an instrument to explore inner European tensions for others.