Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius is an 1844 painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. A preliminary sketch by Delacroix is also kept at the museum.
| Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Eugène Delacroix |
| Year | 1844 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 348 cm × 260 cm (137 in × 100 in) |
| Location | Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon |
Description and analysis
editThis large painting depicts the last hours of the life of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Théophile Gautier, reviewing the painting when it was first shown at the Paris Salon of 1845, describes the scene:
The emperor, on his deathbed, recommends his son Commodus to wise men, stoic philosophers like himself. These grave personages, with unkempt hair, frowning faces, elbows on knees, hands drowned by a flood of white or gray beard, cast anxious and pensive glances at the young Commodus, who patiently listens to his father's remonstrances and advice, from which he would have already escaped if he had not been held by an arm which he vainly tries to free from his father's grip.[1]
Reception
editThéophile Gautier wrote: "The breast, the head, and the robe of the young Caesar are of a beauty of color to inspire the envy of the Flemings and the Venetians...everywhere shines a firm and masterly touch."[1] Charles Baudelaire called it "a splendid painting, magnificent, sublime, misunderstood...one of the most complete specimens of what genius can do in painting."[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Théophile Gathier. "Salon de 1845" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ Charles Baudelaire. "Salon de 1845" (in French). Retrieved 13 October 2024.
External links
edit- Gigapixel image linked to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon's webpage for the painting.