Death of Sardanapalus (section)

Painted by Eugène Delacroix in 1827, this scene throws you right into the final moments of an ancient Assyrian king named Sardanapalus. The story comes from a play by Lord Byron, and it is a grim one. Facing certain defeat, the king decided that nothing he loved would survive him. He commanded his servants to destroy his treasures and kill his concubines, horses, and animals while he looked on. In this part of the picture, the king lounges on his bed above the chaos, strangely calm as violence erupts all around him.

Delacroix was a major voice in the Romantic movement, which prized raw feeling, drama, and bold color over neat and orderly compositions. The tumbling arrangement of bodies, the deep reds and glowing golds, and the sheer tangle of struggling figures show that spirit at full force. When the work was first exhibited, plenty of critics were appalled and called it too wild and disturbing for comfort. Opinions shifted over the years, and it eventually earned its place as one of Delacroix's signature paintings, valued for its restless energy and the way it drags the viewer straight into the middle of the turmoil.