Eugène DELACROIX (Charenton-Saint-Maurice... - Lot 31 - Ader

Eugène DELACROIX (Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798 - Paris 1863) Socrates and his demon or Phidias and his geniusBlack pencil on doubled tracing paper. (Insolate, important restored tears, accidents on the edges, stains at the bottom center). 20.6 x 27.5 cm in the spineProvenance : Stamp of the Delacroix workshop sale (Lugt 838a) at the bottom center, not very legible . Our drawing is a study for a pendant in the second bay (Coupole de la Philosophie) of the Palais Bourbon library. It seems that the first draft was for a "Phidias and his genius" that Delacroix changed into Socrates. The attributes of the sculptor and the environment of the studio were replaced by a landscape of bocage with inversion of the central figures for the painted composition. Another, larger version of this subject is known (see: Galerie Paul Prouté, catalog "Reni", 1992, n° 30, reproduced).