Description
The subject of this painting was inspired by Lord Byron's dramatic 1821 poem about the life of an ancient Assyrian king named Sardanapalus. Finding his palace besieged by enemies, Sardanapalus decides to commit suicide, but first orders his officers to destroy all his favorite possessions in his presence: his wives, pages, and even his horses and dogs. This painting is a replica of a much larger work, now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, that Delacroix first exhibited at the Salon of 1827-1828, where it received harsh criticism.
The story of the Assyrian ruler, Sardanapalus, is a tragic one, so it is not surprising that this story attracted the distorted interest of Eugene Delacroix. According to history, Sardanapalus was the last king of Nineveh, a city between the Mediterranean Sea and the Caspian Sea (present-day Iraq).
The king decided to take matters into his own hands after learning that his city was under attack by an enemy rebel group. Rather than face humiliating defeat, Sardanapalus decided that he would destroy his prized possessions himself.
His concubines, including his favorite Myrrha, his horses, and his slaves, would be burned and destroyed. Knowing that he, too, would be burned on the funeral pyre makes his apathetic reaction all the more alarming. In The Death of Sardanapalus, the king faces his demise with an apathetic expression amidst the corpses scattered around his luxurious room. His eyes remain expressionless as his servants carry out his orders and continue to slaughter his concubines and horses. Legend has it that the king died in 876 BC.
Eugene Delacroix was also inspired by the literary work and The Death of Sardanapalus was also based on Lord Byron's tragedy. Byron's story is also believed to have been influenced by the Greek historian Diodorus, 1st century AD.
Although the death of Lord Byron was Delacroix's main inspiration, he does not follow the theme precisely, but adapts it according to his own imagination. In the true nature of Delacroix, the artist described the scene of the last hour in a much more destructive way than Byron's poem.
Delacroix adds more people to the scene increasing the magnitude of the disaster. Paint the ancient king surrounded by chaos; he has just ordered the death of his women, slaves, horses and most precious concubine after learning of the defeat of his army. He would rather destroy his most valuable possessions than leave them in the hands of his enemies.
This scene from the Oriente region was painted before Delacroix traveled there himself. His inspiration came as a result of Napoleon's victory in Egypt. Booty brought to Europe from Egypt inspired some of the found objects in the painting; the Egyptian winged sun and the Egyptian-style hood worn by the Moors.
Other elements, including the cupbearer's Indian turban and elephant decorations, were inspired by India. Delacroix's goal here was to be as un-European as possible, and although this painting gives a sense of the Orient, the artist had yet to perfect the subject.
The scene of chaos and murder in the masterpiece recalls the intensity first seen in The Chios Massacres; Greek families waiting for death or in turn slavery.
Modern critics recognize The Death of Sardanapalus as one of Delacroix's masterpieces. They admire and praise his inventiveness, his courage to practice the new vignette style, and of course they acknowledge his color effects as nothing short of genius.