ticketsMember | Make a donation

Studies of a Fallen Male Nude for "Hercules and the Horses of Diomedes"

1852
Not on view
This drawing attests to an unrealized idea for an 1852 commission: the decoration of the Salon de la Paix in the newly expanded Hôtel de Ville (Paris City Hall). Delacroix’s program included eleven lunettes dedicated to episodes from the life of the Greek hero Hercules. Although conceived as a liberating act, Hercules feeding the barbaric king Diomedes to his own flesh-eating horses—the subject partially depicted here—was likely deemed too violent for a room dedicated to peace. The studies of Diomedes reaching backward above his head and Hercules’s fist clamped around the king’s arm convey some of the force of the struggle, even in the absence of Hercules’s body and the threatening horses.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Studies of a Fallen Male Nude for "Hercules and the Horses of Diomedes"
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Date: 1852
  • Medium: Graphite
  • Dimensions: sheet: 8 7/16 x 12 1/2 in. (21.4 x 31.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1135.29
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.