Yesterday, 13 August, marked the 160th anniversary of the death of Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), whose last major work was a set of three large paintings to decorate the Chapel of Saint-Anges in the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. He started these when he was in his early fifties, but was already prone to periods of ill-health. By the time that he completed the project, he had turned sixty-three and his health was failing.

The Church of Saint-Sulpice is the third largest in Paris, and its façade was modelled after Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. Construction of the current building was started in 1646, but wasn’t completed until after Delacroix’s death, in 1870. He was initially commissioned to paint in the church as early as April 1849, but there was confusion over which part of its interior was involved.

After a false start and wasted designs, Delacroix presented his first painted sketches by the summer of 1850, then had second thoughts and didn’t get working in earnest for another five years. In 1857, Delacroix fell ill, and had to suspend work on the project for eighteen months. He then completed his work, with help from two assistants, in July-August 1861.

Although he’s not generally considered as a painter of religious works, Delacroix had created many since early in his career. In addition to four pendentives of angels painted in grisaille, the three major paintings in this chapel cover the ceiling with Saint Michael Defeats the Devil, and two walls, with Heliodorus Driven from the Temple and Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, each chosen by the artist.

Saint Michael Defeats the Devil refers to the Book of Revelation, chapter twelve, where the archangel does battle with Satan and casts him out of heaven so that he no longer has access to God. Delacroix sets the two figures against a luminous sky derived no doubt from his earlier studies. The devil’s right hand clutches a pitchfork, and a black serpent slithers away to the right. As this was intended for the ceiling, the artist used the same combination of oil and wax as he applied to the plaster of the walls, but here on canvas that was then fixed to the interior of the flattened cupola.

Heliodorus Driven from the Temple is drawn from the Second Book of Maccabees, chapter three, where Seleucus IV Philopator (c 218-175 BC), of the Seleucid Empire around modern Syria, sends Heliodorus to seize the riches from the Temple of Jerusalem. When Heliodorus tries to do that, he’s knocked down by a horseman and beaten by two angels until he is cast out.

Heliodorus is lying in the foreground as two flying angels beat him, and the horseman threatens to trample his body under the hooves of his mount. In the background at the upper right, the High Priest and his staff wave their arms in protest and surprise at the event taking place below, and Heliodorus’ desecration of the Temple.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel is drawn from the Book of Genesis, where Jacob is trying to assuage Esau’s anger by taking him flocks and gifts. He meets a stranger, an angel, who gets into a bitter quarrel with him, which is only ended when the stranger touches Jacob on the tendon of his thigh and renders him helpless (detail below). That’s the moment depicted here, as the angel’s right hand reaches under Jacob’s left thigh. To the right are flocks of sheep with Jacob’s shepherds driving them on horses and camels.

Two years later, and 160 years ago yesterday 13 August, Delacroix was dead.

When you’re next in Paris, make a point of visiting the Church of Saint-Sulpice and spending a little while enjoying these remarkable paintings.

References

Wikipedia

Barthélémy Jobert (2018) Delacroix, new and expanded edn, Princeton UP. ISBN 978 0 691 18236 0.
Patrick Noon and Christopher Riopelle (2015) Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, National Gallery and Yale UP. ISBN 978 1 857 09575 3.
Lucy Norton (translator) (1995) The Journal of Eugène Delacroix, 3rd edn, Phaedon. ISBN 978 0 7148 3359 0.
Arlette Sérullaz (2004) Delacroix, Louvre Drawing Gallery, 5 Continents. ISBN 978 8 874 39105 9.
Beth S Wright (editor) (2001) The Cambridge Companion to Delacroix, Cambridge UP. ISBN 978 0 521 65077 1.