The Death of Sardanapalus
Eugène Delacroix1844
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, United States
The subject of this painting was inspired by Lord Byron's dramatic poem of 1821 about the life of an ancient Assyrian king named Sardanapalus. Finding his palace besieged by enemies, Sardanapalus decides to kill himself, but first orders his officers to destroy all his favorite possessions in his presence—his wives, pages, and even his horses and dogs. This painting is a replica of a much larger work, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, that Delacroix first exhibited in the Salon of 1827–28, where it received harsh criticism. Delacroix may have painted this Museum's version for himself before selling the larger work in 1846.
- Title: The Death of Sardanapalus
- Creator Lifespan: 1798/1863
- Creator Nationality: French
- Creator Gender: Male
- Creator Death Place: Paris, France
- Creator Birth Place: Charenton-Saint Maurice, France
- Date: 1844
- Location: France
- Physical Dimensions: w32.44 x h29 in (Overall)
- Type: Paintings
- Rights: © 2014 Philadelphia Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
- External Link: Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Provenance: By bequest from the artist to Legrand, 1863 [1]; Prosper Crabbe (1827-1889), Brussels, by 1873 [2]; A. Bellino, by 1885-1892 [3]; his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 20, 1892, no. 11 (illus.). With Wildenstein & Co., New York, by 1930 [4]. With Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York and Paris, by April 1934 [5]; sold to Henry P. McIlhenny, 1935; bequest to PMA, 1986. 1. According to Robaut (see note 3), Legrand was an attorney and the executor of Delacroix's will, and the painting passed upon his death to Mr. Crabbe and then to Mr. Bellino. 2. Sénateur Prosper Crabbe (1827-1889) was a stockbroker and Brussels collector of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French art. A notice in The Academy (London), vol. IV, no. 74, 1873, p. 230, states that "a reduced replica of the great picture of Sardanapalus by Delacroix now exhibiting at the Society of French Artists in Bond-street, was bought by M. Prosper Crabbe at the Wilson sale for 70,000 francs." However the only Delacroix painting in the Daniel Wilson sale of 1873 was the original 1827 version now in the Louvre. 3. Preceding provenance per Robaut, L'oeuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix (Paris, 1885), no. 791, and the 1885 exhibition catalogue, "Exposition Eugène Delacroix," École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, no. 8. 4. Wildenstein lent the painting to the exhibition in Paris, Palais du Louvre, "Exposition Eugène Delacroix," June-September 1930, no. 112 (see also exhibition loan label on reverse of painting). 5. Copies of correspondence between Rosenberg and McIlhenny in curatorial file., The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, 1986
- Artist/Maker: Ferdinand-Victor-Eugène Delacroix, French, 1798 - 1863
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