Eugene Delacroix
French, 1798 - 1863
Cleopatra and the Peasant
Eugene Delacroix was a leader of the Romantic
movement, a rebellion against the precise forms and intellectual tone of
Neo-Classical art. Romantic art expressed intensities of emotion- fear,
exultation, despair. Rich, luminous color, vibrant brushwork, and
turbulent compositions created the emotional tone of Romantic
paintings.
The Romantics found inspiration in exotic places. Here,
the setting is Egypt. Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, sits at the right in
her throne. A peasant, clutching a basket of figs, leans towards her.
Amidst the plump, purple fruit in the basket, a snake raises its
head.
Delacroix's source was Shakespeare's Antony and
Cleopatra. Cleopatra has vowed never to be taken to Rome as Caesar's
trophy, preferring "the noble act" of suicide. She asks if this is "the
pretty worm of the Nile," whose bite "kills and pains not." The peasant
says it is, adding wryly, "Those that do die of it seldom or never
recover." His slight smile contrasts with Cleopatra's solemn stare, as she
contemplates her own death.
The painting is rich in contrasts: the
queen's pale flesh and the peasant's ruddy skin; his massive body filling
the left side of the canvas, and her smaller, vulnerable body; her garment
shimmering in pinks, reds and yellows, and his rough animal pelt in brown
and black. A modern critic calls this painting "a bold juxtaposition of
the grotesque and the beautiful."
Delacroix's daring use of colors
is seen here in the flash of turqoise-blue on the underside of Cleopatra's
right hand, repeated, less strongly, in the shadows of her forearm; and in
the dabs of orange-red paint for the peasant's skin. As we move back from
the painting, these colors blend into natural-looking flesh tones.