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La Pietà, from "L'Illustration"

Engraver Alexandre Pothey French
August 29, 1863
Not on view
Published just two weeks after the death of Delacroix, this print is described as the artist's "last drawing on wood." Customarily, to make a wood engraving, an artist would supply a drawing on paper to be translated by another hand onto the wood block, before being engraved by yet another practitioner. By drawing directly onto the wood himself, Delacroix believed the medium could serve as an outlet for the direct expression of his thought. This composition corresponds more closely with Delacroix's first oil sketch (private collection) for his Pietà than the final mural executed in Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement, which does not include the angels and reverses the figural group.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: La Pietà, from "L'Illustration"
  • Series/Portfolio: L'Illustration
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Engraver: Alexandre Pothey (French, Lure 1820–1895 Paris)
  • Date: August 29, 1863
  • Medium: Wood engraving
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 14 3/16 × 20 7/16 in. (36.1 × 51.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Donato Esposito, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.279.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Saada, the Wife of Abraham Ben-Chimol, and Préciada, One of Their Daughters, Eugène Delacroix French, Watercolor over graphite on wove paper
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