No need for ajax. You can create a new image element, set its source attribute and place it somewhere in the document once it has finished loading:
var img = $("<img />").attr('src', 'http://somedomain.com/image.jpg')
.on('load', function() {
if (!this.complete || typeof this.naturalWidth == "undefined" || this.naturalWidth == 0) {
alert('broken image!');
} else {
$("#something").append(img);
}
});