The majority of Delacroix's paintings have a distinct style that is inspired by romanticism literature, in which the individual approaches nature from an individual and emotional standpoint. Delacroix's predecessors' works are seen in the individual's fusion of different talents and the use of vivid colors to convey pain and discomfort. The individual grew up in an artistic family and, despite being a classical student, participated in painting classes where much of the teachers' works influenced the creation of a distinctive style of painting that many Impressionists glorify and admire. Therefore, the discussion of romanticism in this paper is not to imply affectionate feelings towards the opposite sex but the context of the movement. During this period of 18th century, romanticism art was used to glorify things such as nature and inner feeling towards the contemporary topics such as pain, love, agony, and the metaphysical world.
In particular, the works of people like Michelangelo, Rubens, Turner, and Lawrence among others inspired his creativity and uniqueness in his painting style while traveling throughout Europe and Morocco. As a result, most of the outcomes turned him away from the European movement perception of romanticism led by Victor Hugo due to the differences in the ideology. Delacroix believed it has to be from an individual without the influence of the society while the Hugo-led team believed it had to follow some particular rules established by the movements such as rhyme. In this regard, the essay involves some of the work by Delacroix, how the romantic ideology literature influenced his paintings and the resulting differences with other romanticism movements in Europe. The romantic ideology literature influenced Delacroix’s thinking into developing a unique style that defied the society driven romanticism movements in Europe.
Delacroix developed his style away from the movement ideals of romanticism through a combination of skills gained from various teachers and personal experiences. Delacroix had to achieve this through listening to his creativity, and exploring painting through his feelings. According to Nina, romanticism is a way of feeling that is independent of all rules. Therefore, an individual has the right to express themselves using their feelings to create the impression they want other than what a movement wants. Delacroix in his work demonstrates this aspect in different ways by advocating for the individual feeling ideology of expressing romanticism. In most of his works, he defies all the rules of art in romanticism where specific colors were used to imply particular emotions. Therefore, most of the paintings by Delacroix reflect less on the emotions but express the feeling of pain and suffering. The fact that that the individual in his maturity uses bright colors to enhance aesthetics and impressions indicates that Delacroix is moving away from the norm which received criticism by some members of the movement in Europe.
However, Delacroix does not believe in the expression of the feelings from a societal perspective but rather how the individual feels and views certain aspects of life and experiences through self. In this regard, if people admire the pieces of art the person paints, they do so because of the similarity of their feelings to those of the artist. However, the interpretation of the paint can differ with different people hence the criticism. Despite this challenge, most of the works by Delacroix are considered the significant redefinition of romanticism in the contemporary painting revolution. Besides, it indicates that the independence of thinking and painting through the self, makes express a unique feeling rather than a play of colors to a structured norm to represent emotion hence killing creativity.
The first piece of a painting by Delacroix, inspired by a romantic literature ideology is Dante and Virgil in Hell. In the painting, the influence of the teachers and literature artists is evident such as through the skills of Michelangelo, Rubens, Shakespeare, and some creativity of mythical stories about hell. The art itself is based on a comedy novel in which the poet Dante and a friend Virgil visit hell in an expedition that starts from purgatory, hell, and ends up in paradise. In this particular painting, the expression of a “way of feeling” is very different from the traditional feeling of the French where the individual grew. The fact that this deviation from the ideology happens at this time indicates the reducing influence the romanticism movement that was formerly strong in Europe. In this regard, the use of literature in influencing the painting style is unique and critical in the development of this art into a style, in the later years of his maturity while in Morocco.
The painting captures a moment in hell involving Dante and Virgil which expresses the feeling as represented in the comedy. Analysts of the painting argue that the use of colors is influenced by one of his teachers in his youth, Rubens, while the drawing of the figures is through Michelangelo’s teachings. Rubens had a particular touch with the use of color in representing nature, water bodies, and the skies. On the other hand, Michelangelo uses particular figure outlines and posture to represent particular actions and emotions. Delacroix combines these two aspects to create a brightly colored image of the Dante divine comedy while in a visit to hell. As a result, the painting creates a new age of revolution in which most people used to the traditional paintings of the French found a new impression of exploring art as a way of feeling. The change in the way of expressing a feeling, therefore, has more impression since an individual can pay more attention to their non-existent world and their imagination unlike when one is giving attention to details in a particular order. Besides, the use of a combined skills approach by Delacroix to the painting inspires other artists that the purpose of learning from various teachers is to enable them to enhance their talents through being innovative and creative.
The second piece of art by Delacroix under the influence of Shakespeare, Lord Byron, subjects from Dante, and medieval history is the Massacre at Chios. In the painting, Delacroix is capturing a moment in the battlefield to represent a historical moment dramatized through art regarding the massacre of Greeks by Turks in an island named Chios. Most of the people in Europe are familiar with the occurrence of the event hence have various emotions including horror, fear, innocence, and pride among other things. On the other hand, the literature influence by the poets to Delacroix during this period had developed skills of expressing feelings in a particular way to create an impression in a reader. Borrowing from this aspect, the individual continues to use bright colors in glorification of pain and suffering.
Delacroix brings all these feelings in one masterpiece under the huge canvas to achieve unity in three aspects. Firstly, the individual glorifies pain in the celebration and pride in the faces of the conquerors that represent the Turks. The individual achieves this through creating a contrast of feelings by the ottoman soldiers and the Greeks who seem helpless and stressful. Viewers of the painting will, therefore, have the impression and feeling that the soldiers are rejoicing over the killing of innocent civilians, who are struggling to get independence from Turkey.
The second aspect is through showcasing the horror and despair the Greeks go through including women and children who die innocently under the army. Delacroix achieves this by showing the suffering of the Greeks under the mercy of the ottoman soldiers. The woman at the center of the image is bleeding probably from a cut from a sword and is looking at a small child lying next to her. The feeling is that the person might be the mother and with the inevitable death, she worries of the child. Also, a man is placing the hands on his cheek which might indicate a sign of despair and waiting for the moment to die. The vivid depiction of the horror evokes a lot of reactions from viewers who get engaged in this way of feeling.
The last aspect that Delacroix achieves this is through the splendor of a vast sky. At this time friends such as Constable, whose drawing of landscapes he admired, could have influenced the shaping of the island, and color of the sky which shows darkness. Symbolically, dark clouds signify a developing thunderstorm which makes people fear and seek shelter for protection. The use of these colors in the panting to represent the clouds and sky, therefore, indicate the feeling of fear yet the Greeks under it have no way of getting out due to the pressure by the Turks. Therefore, it presents a state of helplessness. Another way a viewer can interpret it is that what is happening is wrong hence the feeling of sadness. All the three aspects create unity of representing the massacre through the painting which resonates with most of the Europeans hence its popularity to the contemporary art.
Another piece by the artist which draws from literature on romantic ideology is the death of Sardanapalus. Delacroix draws from the poem of Lord Byron in which Sardanapalus is the king of Syria who only wants what is good for the subjects and people of the country. However, with the military overpowered, the king orders his valuables destroyed and the concubines, slain. Lastly, the king throws himself to death in a spike protecting the palace. The painting uses a broad range of colors from red to white, to distinguish the little details of the nude bodies of women surrounding the bed where the king lays dead. The richness of color shows royalty and the distinction of every detail. The most significant theme is about romance which is influenced by the subjects of Byron in his poems. The image and ideology of Delacroix’s painting by use of the watercolors are aligned to the contact with Constable, Turner, and Bonington who influenced his development of the painting skills using bright and contrasting colors. Though Delacroix does not entirely follow the script, most of the details and are inspired by Byron’s narrative. Therefore, the individual uses the romantic literature ideology of Byron to enhance and foster his imagination.
The composition and panting of the image indicate an exploration of how one perceives a situation and presents it in a piece of art. For Delacroix, bringing out each detail even where the same bright colors are next to each other, through the use of brushstrokes, is very critical in conveying the feelings of the painting. Placing the king in the middle of the ogre of a death of the concubines and the servants while staring at a pyre being where he will be burnt after his death presents a theme of glorification of romance through pain and suffering. Therefore, Delacroix uses the balance and order aspects to bring out this clarity through the lessons by the individual teachers and friend in his tour of Europe as well as particular romantic literature ideologists such as Byron.
The last painting involves Liberty leading the people, which draws from the revolution by the people resulting in a new king to the French throne named Philippe. The painting, therefore, is not only an art showing an event in the real world but also includes an allegory through the use of the image of a lady with weapons leading the revolution. The interpretation of the work could also mean a fight for freedom which is a topic in today’s fight for women rights and other activist groups. The victory could symbolize a new age in the freedom for women from the chauvinistic control and inequity regarding social responsibilities. The fact that during the time most of the people who went to the streets as activities included mainly the male gender could speak significantly of the feeling of Delacroix about the place of women in the society leadership. Therefore, pieces of literature regarding the suffering of women could have inspired the artist also in the development of the painting. The significance is that through the painting, the two implications glorify the pain and suffering of the people especially women who struggle for social justice from oppressive systems.
On one hand, the image presents the victory of the people in French after a long revolution to install a king who can address their challenges directly. On the other hand, placing the image of the woman at the center of the painting as a leader, with a following of civilian men holding weapons could signify the age of control by women in leadership and appreciation of their rights in the societies without the influence of stereotypes. Such ideological thoughts of expressing this feeling are drawn from contemporary happenings that inspire people to fight for their rights and social justice.
In conclusion, the discussion of the four pieces of art by Delacroix including Dante and Virgil in hell, the massacre at Chios the death of Sardanapalus, and lastly liberty leading the people to show the significant influence of the romantic literature in guiding the painting skills of the artist. Teachers and friends such as Michelangelo, constable, turner, Bonington, and Byron among others influence various aspects of a painting by Delacroix. Some of the influences include how to express a feeling, the use of figure outlining in painting, utilization of colors, and the extent of imagination through art. Delacroix improved his painting over time through the use of bright colors and a mixture of the skills to develop a unique style that many impressionists admire, away from the traditional painting of the romanticism movement under Hugo.
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