When one of the versions of "Christ Asleep during the Tempest" was shown in the 1864 Delacroix memorial exhibition, a critic described it as "one of the subjects that Delacroix has caressed most . . . . Everything seduces him in this episode, the whipped-up water, the sky black with storms, the sails torn by the wind, the terror of the sailors, and, above all that, the sweet sleep of the Saviour in the midst of the revolt of nature." Delacroix painted fourteen variations of this New Testament lesson in faith: when awakened by his terrified disciples, Christ scolded them for their lack of trust in Providence. In the earlier works, the seascape is more prominent; in the later ones, as here, Christ's bark occupies a more significant place.

After Vincent van Gogh saw this version in Paris in 1886, he wrote, "The 'Christ in the Boat'—I am speaking here of the sketch in blue and green with touches of violet, red and a little citron-yellow for the nimbus, the halo—speaks a symbolic language through color alone."

Inscription: Signed (lower left): Eug. Delacroix

?[Francis Petit, Paris, from 1853]; ?Bouruet-Aubertot, Paris (by 1860); ?Monsieur R.-L. L. (until 1876; his sale, Paris, April 22, 1876, no. II); John Saulnier, Bordeaux (by 1873?–d. 1886; his estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 5, 1886, no. 35, for Fr 14,000, bought in; his estate sale, Galerie Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris, March 25, 1892, no. 8, for Fr 26,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1892; stock no. 2066; sold on December 13 for Fr 40,000 to Durand-Ruel, New York]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1892–94; sold on January 16, 1894 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1894–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 134–35, ill.)

Paris. 26, boulevard des Italiens. "Tableaux tirés de collections d'amateurs . . .," 1860, no. 349 (as "Le Christ sur le lac de Nazareth," lent by Brouet-Aubertot [sic], possibly this work [or J453]).

Paris. 26, boulevard des Italiens. "Expositon des œuvres d'Eugène Delacroix," 1864, no. 125 (as "Jésus endormi dans la barque pendant la tempête," lent by M. Bourruet [sic], possibly this work).

Paris. École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition Eugène Delacroix au profit de la souscription destinée à élever à Paris un monument à sa mémoire," March 6–April 15, 1885, no. 201 (as "Jésus dans la barque pendant la tempête," lent by M. John Saulnier, Bordeaux).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 59 (as "Christ on Lake Gennesaret") [2nd ed., 1958, no. 137].

Los Angeles Museum. "The Development of Impressionism," January 12–February 28, 1940, no. 23.

Honolulu Academy of Arts. "Four Centuries of European Painting," December 8, 1949–January 29, 1950, no. 20.

Art Gallery of Toronto. "Fifty Paintings by Old Masters," April 21–May 21, 1950, no. 10.

Hempstead, N.Y. Hofstra College. "Metropolitan Museum Masterpieces," June 26–September 1, 1952, no. 36.

Atlanta Art Association Galleries. "Painting: School of France," September 20–October 4, 1955, no. 6.

Birmingham Museum of Art. "Painting: School of France," October 16–November 5, 1955, no. 6.

Columbia, S.C. Columbia Museum of Art. "Impressionism," April 3–May 8, 1960, no. 14.

Tokyo National Museum. "Treasured Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," August 10–October 1, 1972, no. 91.

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Treasured Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 8–November 26, 1972, no. 91.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 37.

Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum Vincent Van Gogh. "Franse meesters uit het Metropolitan Museum of Art: Realisten en Impressionisten," March 15–May 31, 1987, no. 1.

Kunsthaus Zürich. "Eugène Delacroix," June 5–August 23, 1987, no. 95.

Frankfurt. Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut. "Eugène Delacroix," September 24, 1987–January 10, 1988, no. 95.

Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 81.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from North American Collections," April 10–June 16, 1991, no. 9 (as "Christ and His Disciples Crossing the Sea of Galilee").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A261.

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Delacroix: Les dernières années," April 7–July 20, 1998, no. 115.

Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Delacroix: The Late Work," September 15, 1998–January 3, 1999, no. 115 (as "Christ on the Sea of Galilee").

Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Vincent's Choice: Van Gogh's Musée Imaginaire," February 14–June 15, 2003, unnumbered cat. (pl. 124).

Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. "Eugène Delacroix," November 1, 2003–February 1, 2004, no. 172.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art. "Tempests and Romantic Visionaries: Images of Storms in European and American Art," April 21–August 13, 2006, no. 22.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 17.

Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19.Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.

Baltimore. Walters Art Museum. "Déjà Vu? Revealing Repetition in French Masterpieces," October 7, 2007–January 1, 2008, no. 11.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art; Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 6, 2012–January 4, 2013.

Beijing. National Museum of China. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art; Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 8–May 9, 2013.

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. September 26, 1853 [published in A. Joubin, ed., "Journal de Delacroix," 1932, vol. 2, p. 77], as "Christ dans le bateau," possibly listing this work [see Ref. Johnson 1986].

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. October 10, 1853 [published in A. Joubin, ed., "Journal de Delacroix," 1932, vol. 2, p. 83], calls it "Christ dans la barque" and notes that he is painting it for Petit, possibly this picture [see Ref. Johnson 1986].

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. October 9, 1853 [published in A. Joubin, ed., "Journal de Delacroix," 1932, vol. 2, p. 82], notes that he was working on a picture he refers to as "Christ dans la barque," possibly this picture [see Ref. Johnson 1986].

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. October 13, 1853 [published in A. Joubin, ed., "Journal de Delacroix," 1932, vol. 2, p. 88], refers to it as "Christ dormant dans la tempête" and restates that it is for Petit, possibly this picture [see Ref. Johnson 1986].

Théophile Silvestre. Delacroix. Paris, 1855, p. 81, probably not this picture [see Ref. Johnson 1986, p. 235 n. 1 under no. 452].

Théophile Gautier. "Exposition de tableaux modernes, tirés de collections d'amateurs—1er article." Gazette des beaux-arts 5 (February 15, 1860), p. 202, as "Christ endormi pendant la tempête," praises the work, saying that although small, it expresses "toute l'immensité de la mer et tout l'effroi de l'oura".

Amédée Cantaloube. Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1864, p. 98, lists two pictures as having been included in the 1864 Paris exhibition under the title of "Jésus endormi dans la barque pendant la tempête".

H. de la Madelène. Eugène Delacroix à l'exposition du Boulevard des Italiens. Paris, 1864, p. 17.

Adolphe Moreau. E. Delacroix et son œuvre. Paris, 1873, p. 262, second picture mentioned under note 1, as "Jésus pendant une tempête sur le lac de Génésareth"; dates it 1854, and correctly notes the placement of the signature [see Ref. Robaut 1885]; states that it was included in the 1864 Paris exhibition, and that Saulnier acquired it from Bouruet-Aubertot.

Alfred Robaut. L'œuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1885, p. 326, no. 1215, ill. (engraving), as "Le Christ sur le lac de Génézareth"; dates it 1854; states incorrectly that it is signed at the right [rather than the left]; includes it in the 1864 Paris exhibition; states that it was etched by A. Greux for the Durand-Ruel gallery; gives extensive provenance information, much of which is not accepted by Johnson [see Ref. 1986].

Paul Mantz. "La Collection John Saulnier." Le Temps (June 3, 1886), p. 3.

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. September 8, 1888 [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 29, no. 533], mentions Mantz's [see Ref. 1886] comments on this picture.

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. September 1888 [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 24, no. 531].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. [ca. July 1888] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 2, p. 597, no. 503], comments on the use of color in this work, noting that it "speaks a symbolic language through color alone".

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Émile Bernard. end of June 1888 [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, pp. 495, 497, no. B8], praises the color in this picture.

Jul. Meier-Graefe. Manet und sein Kreis. Berlin, 1902, ill. opp. p. 10, as "Jesus endormi dans la barque pendant la tempête," in a private collection.

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Delacroix raconté par lui-même. Paris, 1916, vol. 2, p. 115, fig. 335, as "Le Christ sur le lac de Génésareth".

Julius Meier-Graefe. Eugène Delacroix: Beiträge zu einer Analyse. Munich, 1922, ill. p. 199, as "Le Christ sur le lac de Génésareth," dates it 1855.

The H.O. Havemeyer Collection: A Catalogue of the Temporary Exhibition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1930, p. 10, no. 59, dates it 1853 and notes that this is the second of the seven renderings of this subject.

Frank Jewett Mather Jr. "The Havemeyer Pictures." The Arts 16 (March 1930), p. 469, ill. p. 461, calls it "important beyond its scale".

Edward S. King. "Delacroix's Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery." Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 1 (1938), pp. 90, 92–93, 109 n. 14, p. 110 nn. 30 and 36, fig. 6, calls it "Christ on the Sea of Galilee" and dates it 1853; finds the gesture of the central figure with upraised arms very similar to poses used frequently by Raphael and Rubens, and relates the figure in a similar pose, but seen from the back, to Rubens, and also to Sacchi.

Virginia N. Whitehill. Stepping-Stones in French Nineteenth-Century Painting. New York, 1941, fig. 4, calls it "Christ on Lake Gennesaret".

Loan Exhibition of Masterpieces by Delacroix and Renoir. Exh. cat., Paul Rosenberg. New York, 1948, p. 38, under no. 8.

Fifty Paintings by Old Masters. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Toronto. Toronto, 1950, unpaginated, no. 10, dates it 1854 and notes that this the third in the series of seven paintings of this subject.

Eugène Delacroix. The Journal of Eugène Delacroix. London, 1951, pl. 52 (listed as pl. 53 in "Notes on the Plates"), dates it 1853.

Walter Friedlaender. David to Delacroix. New York, 1952, pp. 125, 133, fig. 81, calls it "Christ on the Sea of Galilee," dates all of Delacroix's versions of this subject about 1853.

Painting: School of France. Exh. cat., Atlanta Art Association Galleries. Atlanta, 1955, unpaginated, no. 6, dates it 1854 and restates that this is the third painting in the series.

Lee Johnson. "Delacroix at the Biennale." Burlington Magazine 98 (September 1956), p. 329 nn. 9 and 10, identifies the MMA work as Robaut no. 1215, in spite of the fact that Robaut states that it is signed on the right rather than the left [see Ref. Robaut 1885]; also tentatively identifies it with the version mentioned by Van Gogh in several letters [see Refs. Van Gogh 1888].

Lee Johnson. "The Etruscan Sources of Delacroix's 'Death of Sardanapalus'." Art Bulletin 42 (December 1960), p. 300, dates it to the 1850s; relates the composition of some of the works in this series to that of the "Death of Sardanapalus".

Lee Johnson. Delacroix. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Toronto. Toronto, 1962, pp. 45–46, under no. 18.

Felix Baumann and Hugo Wagner. Eugène Delacroix. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Bern. Bern, 1963, unpaginated, under no. 78.

René Huyghe. Delacroix. New York, 1963, pp. 469, 537.

Maurice Sérullaz. Mémorial de l'Exposition Eugène Delacroix. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 1963, pp. 340–41, under nos. 448 and 449.

Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, pp. 27–30, ill., remark that Delacroix "painted at least ten pictures with this subject, six showing Jesus and the disciples in a rowboat, and four showing them in a boat with sails according to the seventeenth-century tradition, especially as it was formulated by Rembrandt".

Janice Cooper. "Delacroix's 'Christ on the Lake of Gennesaret' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Vassar Journal of Undergraduate Studies 21 (December 1968), pp. 48–55, figs. 1 and 5, dates it 1853.

Luigina Rossi Bortolatto. L'opera pittorica completa di Delacroix. Milan, 1972, p. 125, no. 655, ill., dates it 1853; erroneously lists it as no. 34 in a 1956 exhibition (the Venice Biennale?).

Charles S. Moffett. Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1973, unpaginated, no. 37, dates it about 1853–54.

Charles S. Moffett. "'Ah! that lovely picture by Delacroix': Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic." Art News 72 (December 1973), p. 40, ill. p. 38.

Susan Elizabeth Strauber. "The Religious Paintings of Eugène Delacroix." PhD diss., Brown University, 1980, pp. 239, 258–59, 267–79, 344 nn. 100 and 105, p. 345 n. 105 (cont'd.), p. 346 n. 112, fig. 56, discusses the chronology and provenances of the various versions of this subject, differing in many instances from conclusions reached by Johnson [see Ref. 1986]; explains the importance of this series in Delacroix's oeuvre.

Mahonri Sharp Young. "Letter from the U.S.A.: New Rooms for Old Glories." Apollo 112 (July 1980), p. 59, fig. 3.

Lee Johnson. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue. 1, Oxford, 1981, p. 118.

Maurice Sérullaz. Delacroix. Paris, 1981, p. 195, no. 386, ill., dates it 1853.

William R. Johnston. The Nineteenth Century Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore, 1982, p. 49.

Ronald Pickvance. Van Gogh in Arles. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, p. 103.

Lee Johnson. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue. 3, Oxford, 1986, pp. 232–33, 235 n. 1, pp. 236, 348, 354, no. 454, as "Christ on the Sea of Galilee," dates it probably 1853; thoroughly discusses the ten pictures in this series [see Notes]; cites Mantz's comments of 1886 on this work [see Ref.].

Lee Johnson. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue. 4, Oxford, 1986, pl. 263.

Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 98, 258, pl. 45, states that the Havemeyers bought this picture from Durand-Ruel in 1894.

Sjraar van Heutgen et al. in Franse meesters uit het Metropolitan Museum of Art: Realisten en Impressionisten. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1987, pp. 15, 17, 28–29, no. 1, ill. (color, overall and detail).

Günter Metken in Eugène Delacroix. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Zürich, 1987, pp. 232–33, no. 95, ill. (color).

Judy Sund. "The Sower and the Sheaf: Biblical Metaphor in the Art of Vincent van Gogh." Art Bulletin 70 (December 1988), pp. 666–68 n. 53, fig. 5, dates it about 1855; discusses Van Gogh's response to Delacroix's expressive use of color in this picture.

Evert van Uitert et al. Vincent van Gogh: Paintings. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Milan, 1990, p. 118, fig. 44b.

Lee Johnson et al. Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from North American Collections. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1991, pp. 16, 26, 72, no. 9, ill.

Susan Alyson Stein in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 284, colorpl. 197.

Gretchen Wold in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 338–39, no. A261, ill.

Fred Leeman in Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams 1840–1916. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1994, p. 233, ill., dates it 1854.

Debora Silverman in Lost Paradise: Symbolist Europe. Exh. cat., Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Montreal, 1995, pp. 107, 112, ill., dates it 1853.

Peter Rautmann. Delacroix. Paris, 1997, p. 292, fig. 284 (color), dates it about 1853.

Kathleen Powers Erickson. At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent van Gogh. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1998, pp. 97–100, 155, fig. 9, dates it about 1854.

Lee Johnson in Delacroix: The Late Work. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1998, p. 29 [French ed., 1998, p. 28].

Naomi Margolis Maurer. The Pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom: The Thought and Art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Madison, N.J., 1998, p. 7, fig. 10 (color), dates it 1853.

Vincent Pomarède in Delacroix: The Late Work. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1998, pp. 269, 279–81, 283, 286, 375, no. 115, ill. (color and black and white) [French ed., 1998, pp. 269, 281–82, 286–87, 375, no. 115, ill. (color and black and white)].

Arlette Sérullaz and Annick Doutriaux. Delacroix: "Une fête pour l'œil". Paris, 1998, p. 123, ill. p. 122 (color), dates it 1854.

Louis van Tilborgh in Millet/Van Gogh. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 1998, p. 105 n. 33.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau with David C. Degener. Manet and the American Civil War: The Battle of the U.S.S. "Kearsage" and C.S.S. "Alabama". Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, p. 73, fig. 53 (color), cite its possible influence on Manet's paintings of the sea.

Hardy S. George in Tempests and Romantic Visionaries: Images of Storms in European and American Art. Exh. cat., Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Oklahoma City, 2006, p. 69.

Lawrence O. Goedde in Tempests and Romantic Visionaries: Images of Storms in European and American Art. Exh. cat., Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Oklahoma City, 2006, p. 27, discusses the sixteenth-century prototype of storm paintings focusing on the human protagonists, mentioning this picture as a late example of the religious subjects for which such compositions were originally invented .

Geoffrey Quilley in Tempests and Romantic Visionaries: Images of Storms in European and American Art. Exh. cat., Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Oklahoma City, 2006, pp. 11, 124, no. 22, ill. p. 10 (color).

Richard Shiff in The Repeating Image: Multiples in French Painting from David to Matisse. Exh. cat., Walters Art Museum. Baltimore, 2007, pp. 136, 194, no. 11, fig. 9 (color).

Gary Tinterow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 43, 247, no. 40, ill. (color and black and white).

Gary Tinterow in The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 37, 212–13, no. 17, ill. (color and black and white).

Chris Stolwijk in Van Gogh and the Colours of the Night. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2008, pp. 30–31, 146 n. 55.

Colta Ives in Une passion pour Delacroix: La collection Karen B. Cohen. Exh. cat., Musée National Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 2009, pp. 31, 33.

Barthélémy Jobert in Une passion pour Delacroix: La collection Karen B. Cohen. Exh. cat., Musée National Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 2009, pp. 23, 27 n. 41.

19th Century European Art, including Orientalist Art. Christie's, King Street. June 15, 2011, p. 10, under no. 203, ill. (color), compares it to a treatment of the subject formerly in the collection of Walter Pach, New York.

This picture depicts a story related in very similar terms in three of the Gospels of the Bible: Matthew 8:23–27, Luke 8:22–25, and Mark 4:36–41.

According to Robaut [see Ref. 1885], this work was etched by A. Greux for Durand-Ruel.

Lee Johnson [see Ref. 1986] lists four versions of this composition by Delacroix: Johnson catalogue raisonné no. 451 (sold, Christie's, New York, October 26, 1988, lot no. 103) and J452 (Portland Art Museum, Oregon), both of which he dates about 1841, and J453 (Peter Nathan, Zürich) and J454 (MMA), both of which he dates probably 1853. He ascribes a fifth version in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [J(S)7], to Delacroix's studio. Johnson also catalogues three versions of this subject depicting a sailboat rather than a rowboat: J455 (Emil Bührle Foundation, Zürich; dated 1853) and J456 (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; dated 1854), both by Delacroix, and J(S)6 (Philadelphia Museum of Art), attributed to Delacroix's studio. A ninth work [J(L)185], known only through a reference in Delacroix's journal to a "barque," may also have depicted this subject. Finally, Johnson lists a copy of the Baltimore picture in the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo.

The early history of this picture is confused. See Refs. Johnson 1986, Moreau 1873, Robaut 1885, and Weitzenhoffer 1986 for further information.