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Eugène Delacroix - The Death of Sardanapalus [c.1827]

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Eugène Delacroix - The Death of Sardanapalus [c.1827]

Delacroix, inspired by Byron's tragedy Sardanapalus, drew on a range of influences to produce this painting: ancient sources such as Diodorus of Sicily, contemporaries including Victor Hugo and Rossini, and less obvious influences such as Etruscan sculpture, Persian miniatures, and Indian customs. Byron merely hinted at the outcome of his play, which he dedicated to Goethe: besieged by his enemies in his palace, Sardanapalus committed suicide. Delacroix, however, imagined that the king also burned his worldly possessions and everything that had given him pleasure: women, pages, horses, dogs, and treasures. The painter gave expression to his idea through a personal style resulting from his prodigious pictorial culture, a blend of French, Flemish, Dutch, Italian, English, Oriental, classical, and modern influences.

[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 392 x 496 cm]

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