DELACROIX inaugurates "Apollo Victorious over the Python"
Rare period plaque issued by Delacroix for the presentation of Apollo victorious over the serpent Python , in the Apollo gallery, at the Louvre.
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Rare period plaque issued by Delacroix for the presentation of Apollo victorious over the serpent Python , in the Apollo gallery, at the Louvre.
Sold
[Eugène DELACROIX] (1798.1863)
Printed invitation addressed to Jules-Joseph Arnoux.
4-page booklet in-8°. Missing at the central fold without affecting the text.
Handwritten address on the 4th page .
Paris. October 15, 1851.
A very beautiful period plaque issued by Delacroix for the presentation of his latest work, Apollo Victorious over the Serpent Python , in the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre.
On the second page, a description of his painting is presented to the readers:
The god, mounted on his chariot, had already launched some of his arrows; Diana, his sister, flying behind him, presented him with her quiver. Already pierced by the arrows of the god of heat and life, the bloody monster writhed, exhaling in a fiery vapor the remnants of its life and its impotent rage….
The history of the decoration of the Apollo Gallery, a long room occupying the first floor of the Petite Galerie in the Louvre, spans three centuries. In 1848, as part of the vast restoration program undertaken by the republican government after the fall of the July Monarchy, the architect Félix Duban launched a major renovation campaign at the Louvre. The Apollo Gallery, which was in danger of collapsing, was restored between 1849 and 1850.
After the structural work, stucco, and sculpture were completed, the painted decoration was finished, with two sections of the ceiling and a tympanum still unfinished. In 1850, Duban entrusted the task to Charles-Louis Müller, Joseph Guichard, and Eugène Delacroix. The latter was given the central section of the ceiling, the centerpiece of the gallery's decoration.
Delacroix initially imagined a decoration on the theme of the Sea Nymphs unharnessing the Sun's steeds, but ultimately opted for Apollo victorious over the serpent Python , a subject taken from Book I of Ovid's Metamorphoses .
The ceiling painted by Delacroix received a very enthusiastic reception from critics. Delacroix was recognized as having rivaled Charles Le Brun, then considered the greatest French decorative painter, with this vast composition.