Head, Shoulder, and Foot, Studies for "Scenes from the Chios Massacres"

Eugène Delacroix

1823 · Graphite · Drawings and Prints

This study of a cadaverous figure relates to Delacroix’s ambitious submission to the Salon of 1824, "Scenes from the Massacres at Chios" (1823; Musée du Louvre). The slaughter of tens of thousands of Greeks by Ottoman troops on the island of Chios escalated the Greek War of Independence (1821−30), and these events, which riveted the French public, fueled Delacroix’s conception of his canvas. The moribund expression of the head in the drawing conveys the shock and disbelief of a witness to inhumane tragedy.

Artist

Eugène Delacroix

Date

1823

Medium

Graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Sharon H. Cott, 2013