Paintings of Martyrdom (1855)

 Jules Eugène Lenepveu: The Martyrs in the Catacombs

  

Paul Delaroche: The Young Martyr

Assassination of the Duc de Guise (1853)

Paul Delaroche: Assassination of the Duc de Guise

No picture displays the absolute ability of Paul Delaroche more than his Assassination of the Duke de Guise, though small: here, independent of almost perfect art, are dramatic unity and probability, developed to that extend that painting is forgotten, and one can think only of the infamous assassination; all art convention is utterly discarded: the large chamber compared with the small figures; the prostrate body, and the bed on one side; the great space between, and on the other the group of skulking assassins, with the cowardly king, still afraid of the duke though but a corpse. If such art is to be called genre, it is a genre of an altitude to which few historical painters indeed have ever attained. [Ralph Nicholson Wornum, The Epochs of Painting. A Biographical and Critical Essay on Paintings and Painters of All Times and Many Places, Chapman and Hall, London, 1864, p. 485]

Napolean Crossing the Alps (1850)

Paul Delaroche: Napoleon Crossing the Alps

This is arguably the most famous painting of Napoleon. In contrast to many portraits of Napoleon which exaggerate his status and authority, Paul Delaroche has elected to portray a younger Napoleon, who was yet to crown himself Emperor.

The sharp angles of the rock faces, icicles and freezing mist reinforce the treacherous nature of the Great St Bernard Pass which cuts its way through the Alps. A lone peasant leads a mule through the snow-capped scene. Atop the mule sits a forlorn and slightly bedraggled Napoleon, wrapped in a greatcoat that is more functional than vainglorious. There are no visible accoutrements to his immense power. He leads no army, wields no weapon and displays no medals; he rides a lowly mule rather than his more usual rearing white stallion, which follows him in the bottom left corner. The painting is unusual in the way it downplays what was a victorious military campaign but also because it was commissioned by an Englishman, Arthur George, 3rd Earl of Onslow one of many noblemen who, surprisingly perhaps, admired Napoleon.

The painting, however, is not meant to disparage or insult a man with whom Delaroche was fascinated. His obsession stemmed from the strong physical resemblance he bore to Napoleon and whose successes and reversals he compared to his own. In his view, the iconic figure of Napoleon would not be demeaned by being revealed as a credible and vulnerable man. [Cheshire Life]

The Childhood of Pico della Mirandola (1842)

Paul Delaroche: The Childhood of Pico della Mirandola

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance philosopher, and a prodigious scholar and author who lived in the 15th century. He fell prey to the political instability of the times, falling under the sway of the radical monk Savonarola and dying of poison.

Hemicycle of the Ecole des Beaux Arts (1841)

 Paul Delaroche: Hémicycle of the Ecole des Beaux Arts (left panel)

 

 (central panel)

  

(right panel)

In 1837 Delaroche received the commission for the great picture that came to be known as the Hémicycle, a Raphaelesque tableau influenced by The School of Athens. This was a mural 27 metres (88.5 ft) long, in the hemicycle of the award theatre of the École des Beaux Arts. The commission came from the École's architect, Félix Duban. The painting represents seventy-five great artists of all ages, in conversation, assembled in groups on either hand of a central elevation of white marble steps, on the topmost of which are three thrones filled by the creators of the Parthenon: architect Phidias, sculptor Ictinus, and painter Apelles, symbolizing the unity of these arts.

To supply the female element in this vast composition he introduced the genii or muses, who symbolize or reign over the arts, leaning against the balustrade of the steps, depicted as idealized female figures. The painting is not fresco but done directly on the wall in oil. Delaroche finished the work in 1841, but it was considerably damaged by a fire in 1855. He immediately set about trying to re-paint and restore the work, but died on 4 November 1856, before he had accomplished much of this. The restoration was finished by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. [Wikipedia]

A contemporary paean to the Hémicycle was printed in The Crayon in 1855.

Saint Cecilia and the Angels (1836)

Paul Delaroche: Saint Cecilia and the Angels

Cecilia was the patron saint of music. She was a favorite subject of painters, to wit:

 Jacques Blanchard

 John Melhuish Strudwick

 

 John William Waterhouse

 

Orazio Gentileschi

The Assassination of the Duc de Guise (1834)

Paul Delaroche: The Assassination of the Duc de Guise in the Château of Blois in 1588

Another gloomy death scene from Delaroche - it seems to have been his specialty.

The Duke of Orléans, elder brother of the Duke of Aumale, commissioned this painting. It is inspired by the opera of Scribe and Meyerbeer, The Huguenots; hence the reason why the protagonists are lined up as if standing on a theater stage. The romantics loved to get inspiration from dramatic episodes of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The painting of Delaroche represents the moment when Henri III appears from behind the curtain where he was hiding to witness the death of his enemy; around him, the conspirators are rushing, every member of the Forty Five, the King's personal guard, while the corpse of the Duke of Guise occupies all of stage right. The atmosphere is dark and gloomy, in keeping with the represented subject. The historical details strive for authenticity; the opera's setting, Dieterle, is said to have contributed to the architectural part. The painting, commissioned in 1833, was delivered in May 1834 and exhibited at the Salon of 1835.   [Domaine de Chantilly]

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833)

Paul Delaroche: The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

This execution scene is one of Delaroche's most celebrated canvases. Although he took some artistic license (the execution actually took place outdoors rather than in a gloomy dungeon), it remains one of the most poignant depictions of a historical event ever made.

More about this painting is here.

Death of the Sons of King Edward in the Tower (1831)

Paul Delaroche: Death of the Sons of King Edward in the Tower

Cromwell before the Coffin of Charles I (1831)

Paul Delaroche: Cromwell before the Coffin of Charles I

This incident never happened - Delaroche painted an urban legend.

The Death of Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1828)

Paul Delaroche: The Death of Elizabeth I, Queen of England

Delaroche seems to have had a thing for depicting historical figures on their deathbed.

Joan of Arc Being Interrogated by the Cardinal of Winchester (1824)

Paul Delaroche: Joan of Arc Being Interrogated by the Cardinal of Winchester

After attending the coronation of Charles VII, which her bravery had helped to bring about, Joan of Arc was captured and sold to the English in 1430. She was tried in Rouen for sorcery and idolatry and burned at the stake. Delaroche's painting is set in a Rouen prison where Henry Beaufort, Cardinal of Winchester is trying to coerce her confession. No source has been found to confirm that such a private meeting between Cardinal Beaufort and Joan ever took place, but Delaroche clearly contrived this encounter to highlight the anti-English aspect of the story.

This painting exemplifies the stylistic changes that Delaroche and others brought about in the painting of history subjects from the middle of the 1820s. By contrast with the earlier “troubadour” style, with its abundance of detail and almost miniaturist technique, Delaroche has limited his reconstruction of the scene to a few telling details. There is still a high degree of realism, but the dramatic impact is achieved primarily through lighting, gesture, and physiognomy. The idealization characteristic of “troubadour” painting has also been consciously tempered, a fact that was noted by a contemporary critic. The fierce profile and angularity of the figure of the Cardinal creates a dramatic contrast with the shrinking but stalwart Joan who lies sick on a bed of straw. The Cardinal's index finger resting on his knee has been interpreted as pointing to hell, while Joan's manacled hands are in a gesture of prayer. The historic import of the scene is stressed through the inclusion of the scribe in the background. Delaroche's imprisoned Joan had many secular counterparts in Romantic painting, but she also recalls the Baroque tradition of depicting female saints.

The original, very large (108 x 84 1/2 inches) canvas was exhibited at the 1824 Salon where it attracted a great deal of notice. Thiers wrote that Delaroche "was faithful in costume, in national character; he was above all true, energetic, even in expression. This is, without contradiction, one of the history paintings which possesses the most of the character of the times and places they represent." Delaroche, like many nineteenth-century painters, painted reduced versions of his most successful compositions. [Matthiesen Gallery]

Fra Filippo Lippi Falling in Love with his Model (1822)

Paul Delaroche: Fra Filippo Lippi Falling in Love with his Model

In June 1456 Fra Filippo is recorded as living in Prato (near Florence) to paint frescoes in the choir of the cathedral. In 1458, while engaged in this work, he set about painting a picture for the monastery chapel of S. Margherita in that city, where he met Lucrezia Buti, the beautiful daughter of a Florentine named Francesco Buti; she was either a novice of the Order or a young lady placed under the nuns' guardianship. Lippi asked that she might be permitted to sit for the figure of the Madonna (or perhaps S. Margherita). Under that pretext, Lippi engaged in sexual relations with her, abducted her to his own house, and kept her there despite the nuns' efforts to reclaim her. The result was their son Filippino Lippi, who became a painter no less famous than his father. Such is Vasari's narrative, published less than a century after the alleged events. [Wikipedia]

Fra Filippo was himself a friar and priest, though not depicted as such in this painting.

Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) was a prominent French artist who was trained by Antoine-Jean Gros. He married the daughter of fellow painter Horace Vernet.