Studies of the Virgin and Holy Women for "The Lamentation"

Eugène Delacroix

1842–43 · Graphite · Drawings and Prints

Working in a linear mode, Delacroix here used a hard, sharp pencil to explore postures for a painting of the Lamentation in the recently built church of Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement in Paris. Rather than sketching the figures from life, he drew on his knowledge of a striking Pietà by Italian Mannerist painter Rosso Fiorentino (1530–40; Louvre). In Delacroix’s final composition, completed in just seventeen days, he reversed the orientation of the figures. After being asked to switch chapels at a late stage, he needed to accommodate a light source from the opposite side.

Artist

Eugène Delacroix

Date

1842–43

Medium

Graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Carmen Bambach, 2013