Study of a Male Nude Study for "The Death of Seneca"

Eugène Delacroix

1838–40 · Graphite on buff Bristol board · Robert Lehman Collection

This drawing relates to The Death of Seneca, one of Delacroix’s ceiling paintings found in the library of the Chambre des Députés in the Palais Bourbon, Paris (now the Assemblé Nationale). The Roman philosopher-dramatist Seneca was implicated in a conspiracy to kill Nero. Ordered by the emperor to commit suicide, he stoically met his fate by having his veins opened, presumably while standing in a bath. Delacroix adroitly captures the recoiling, suicidal figure.

Artist: Eugène Delacroix
Date: 1838–40
Medium: Graphite on buff Bristol board
Department: Robert Lehman Collection
Credit line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975

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