Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Study for Demasthenes

Eugène Delacroix
1798-1863

Study for Demasthenes

ca. 1844
9 1/2x 11 1/2 inches (241 x 292 mm)
Oil on paper laid down on canvas
2008.29

Bequest of Alex Gordon.

Notes
The ancient Greek orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC) reportedly trained his voice by practicing on the seashore, talking over the roar of the waves while rolling pebbles in his mouth. When Delacroix was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Deputies' library at the Palais Bourbon, Paris, he chose this subject to represent Eloquence. This sketch is for a spandrel of a cupola devoted to the theme of Law.
Gordon inv. G. 355.
Associated names
Gordon, Alex, former owner.
Bibliography
Robaut, no. 871, p. 224; Johnson, vol. 5, no. 536.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department