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

Eugène Delacroix – (1798.1863)

Original drawing.

Study sheet – Apollo victorious over the serpent Python.

Pencil on paper – 1850.

"My heart beats faster when I am faced with large walls to paint. " Delacroix, Journal, June 30, 1854

Vertical format 27.60 x 45 cm.

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

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Our drawing is a preparatory study for one of Eugène Delacroix's most important works: the ceiling of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre Palace, which was intended to complete Le Brun's unfinished work. Apollo Victorious over the Python was completed in 1851 and enjoyed great success, notably influencing Degas and Redon.

With the rise of Romanticism, grand decorative arts were revived, and Delacroix, as a leading figure, embraced this art form reserved for giants. His temperament, ambition, and stature predisposed him to this endeavor. From 1833 onward, Delacroix took on the most prestigious projects, seeking out the finest commissions until his death in 1863. At the Palais Bourbon (now the National Assembly), the Luxembourg Palace (Senate), the Louvre Palace, and the Church of Saint-Sulpice, among others, he left his mark on the highest places of worship and power.

Our drawing reflects the new challenges that fresco painting presented to the easel painter. To achieve a grand scale, one had to paint "with broad strokes" and in "masses," as Delacroix himself admitted. The overall balance of the composition and the skillful distribution of masses were more important than the detail.

Our drawing perfectly reflects all these imperatives. Preparatory to the lower right quarter of the ceiling, it allows us to fine-tune the composition. We can also see in it the fervor that animates the entire scene, this assault of the Gods against the unwholesome creatures, "impure products of the mud."

This drawing is related to a series of sheets held at the Louvre Museum (under inventory numbers RF 42657, RF 37303, RF 11964, INV29493…)

Bibliography: J. Montagu, “ Le Brun and Delacroix in the Apollo Gallery ”, 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.