Eugène DELACROIX - Original drawing for the ceiling of the Louvre.

Eugène Delacroix – (1798.1863)

Original drawing.

Study sheet – Apollo conquers the serpent Python.

Pencil on paper – 1850.

“My heart beats faster when I find myself in the presence of large walls to paint. » Delacroix, Journal, June 30, 1854

Vertical format 27.60 x 45 cm.

Artist's stamp on the lower right margin (Lugt-838a)

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Our drawing is preparatory to one of Eugène Delacroix's most important works: the ceiling of the Apollo gallery at the Louvre Palace which completed Le Brun's unfinished work. Apollo conqueror of the serpent Python will be completed in 1851 and will enjoy great success, influencing Degas and Redon in particular.

With romanticism, the Grand Décor was brought up to date and Delacroix as leader measured himself against this art reserved for giants. His temperament, his ambition, his stature predisposed him to this exercise. In 1833, Delacroix took over the most prestigious projects, soliciting the finest orders until his death in 1863. At the Bourbon Palace (today the National Assembly), the Luxembourg Palace (Senate), the Louvre Palace, and the Saint-Sulpice Church in particular, he left his mark on the highest places of worship and power.

Our drawing reflects the new issues that the fresco offered to the easel painter. To do it big, it was necessary to paint “in broad strokes” and in “masses” as Delacroix himself confessed. The general balance of the composition and the skillful distribution of the masses were more important than the details.

It is all these imperatives that our design accurately reflects. Preparatory to the lower right quarter of the ceiling, it allows the composition to be adjusted as best as possible. We also read this desire for enthusiasm which animates the whole scene, this assault of the Gods against unhealthy creatures, “impure products of the silt”

This drawing can be compared to a series of sheets kept at the Louvre Museum (under the inventory numbers RF 42657, RF 37303, RF 11964, INV29493, etc.)

Bibliography: J.Montagu, “ Le Brun and Delacroix in the Galerie d’Apollon ”, La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France, no 12, 1962, p. 233-236.

Provenance: Jacques Fischer, Paris; Eric Carlson, New York; private collection, New York.

Exhibition: Eugène Delacroix, Paintings and Drawings; Peter Paul Rubens, Three Oil Sketches, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, November 15-December 30, 1989. Exhibition cartel.