Study for "Dante and the Spirits of Great Men"

1840–45

Not on view

For the cupola of the Senate Library at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, Delacroix designed a unified composition bringing together "a sort of Elysium" of great men from antiquity. This sheet contains studies of a model in three different poses, which Delacroix incorporated separately as the figures of Cato (arm raised), Socrates (seated), and Hannibal (arm across the chest); each one appears in a different section of the circular composition.

Artwork Details

Title: Study for "Dante and the Spirits of Great Men"
Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
Date: 1840–45
Medium: Fabricated black crayon
Dimensions: Sheet: 10 3/16 × 15 13/16 in. (25.9 × 40.2 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Florence Irving, 2024
Object Number: 2024.591.72
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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In the same medium

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The Abduction of Rebecca, Eugène Delacroix French, Oil on canvas — The Abduction of Rebecca
Eugène Delacroix
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