Delacroix's Path Of Orientalism

Pre-Orient Work:

Eugene Delacroix "Death of Sardanapalus" 1828

"...desolution, massacres, and fires, everything testifies to the eternal and incorrigle barbarity of mankind. Smoke rises from cities razed to the ground, the throats of victims are cut, women are raped, and children hurles beneath horses' hooves or pierced by the dagger of their raving mothers; this entire corpus is a hymn in praise of suffering inevitable and unrelieived." ---Charles Baudelaire, Eugene Delacroix, Work and Life

Before Delacroix's trip to the Orient, his paintings were filled with his own fantasized ideas of the exotic land, which were very and unrealisticEuropeans had a concrete image of the Orient, which was filled with erotic and unrealistic dreams. Delacroix shows a perfect example of his mystical expression through his pre-orient art, which were defiantly not realistic since they were based off of ancient Orientalist evil figures like Herodotus and Diodorus and depictions of Babylonian orgies. For example, in The Death of Sardanapalus {1827} it can be seen that Delacroix has no intention on realistically d epicting this scene, especially since it is based on a fictional event. He creates a world on the canvas filled with forbidden passion fantasies of an alien world. Although very unrealistic, it was painted in 1827, almost 40 years before the Oriental movement began, proving that Delacroix opened up the door to this theme. However, although it was Delacroix's largest and most ambitious demonstration painting during his life, in the end it was a failure with both classicists and romanticists. It was somewhat ahead of its own time through its subject matter and in which the way it was extremely depicted. Nevertheless, he did exemplify a solid romanticism in the painting through the realistic and vibrant motion. Since the painting is not focused on the main character, Sardanapalus, who is in the far left corner, a feeling of turbulence and constant movement is displayed across the canvas. Thus, Delacroix's subject matter might have been radical and frightening to some critics, but The Death of Sardanapalus specifically uses techniques and ideals from the Romantic Movement.

Yet, Delacroix reflects the vogue of Orientalism in the painting, which included vibrant colors, a sensual erotica, and passion. For example, the painting includes Sardanapalus' funeral as he prepares to kill him self on his pyre, which is concealed beneath cushions and a glorious rose-colored fabric. As he is doing this, slaves bring in his favorite wives, horses dogs, and other loved possessions so that all the things he enjoyed during life would die alongside him. Sardanapalus holds himself in a somewhat aloof matter, watching passively as his sensually naked wives are killed. His cool exterior, which is untouched by what is o ccurring around him, has been called an "Orientalized" distance and conventionalized pose, free of worries. Surrounding him are heaps of jewels and other objects draped in an opulent fashion. This story line and actual materials set a tone through the naked bodies, luxurious jewelry, mass of women, and whirlwind of violence, creating an exotic feeling unlike the bland and almost rigid European society. Delacroix envisioned a culture which regarded men so highly that when they were killed so were their possessions, outlining a barbaric and savage culture filled with power and exoticism. Through this painting Delacroix showed what he saw the Orient to be like, a world unlike the one in which they lived.

The Massacre of Chios 1824.

The Massacre of Chios is Delacroix's personal reaction to the genocide practiced by Sublime Porte against the Greeks. In this painting Delacroix depicts Greece, which had been under Turkish occupation since the 15th century. The national liberation movement of the Greek people against the Turkish oppression started at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1821 a big uprising took place in different parts of Greece and in return the Turkish government took severe measures against the revolting Greeks. In retaliation they organized Greek pogroms all over the country. The Chios massacre was just one of many such large scale atrocities inflicted upon the Greek population during the Greek War of Independence. In this massacre 98,000 Greeks were killed or sold into slavery leaving only 2,000 people. This work shows Delacroix's dream like image of this terrible event portraying a heroic scale of the suffering of ordinary humanity, a theme echoed in many of his pre orient works. Delacroix often took his subjects from literature, but he aimed at transcending literary or didactic significance by using color to create an effect of pure energy and emotion. However, although this painting is not a realistic image, the movement depicted in each figure is realistic a the colors are extremly vibrant and luminius. Jean Cau, a writer and journalist described as the Guernica of the nineteenth century, the painting's evocation of the epic scale of this holocaust was one of its most important qualities distinguishing it as a crowning masterpiece of the Romantic movement.

~Colonialism and Imperialism ~ The Romantic Movement

~How the Orient Came To Be ~

~ Orientalism: An Artistic Movement ~Delacroix's Pre Orient Work~

Delacroix's Post Orient Work ~ The Days After Delacroix ~

~ Bibliography ~

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