The Death of Sardanapalus Analysis
The Death Of Sardanapalus
Art has been classified into many different types of styles. Some artists reflect the style perfectly in their works and others express elements from different styles in their pieces. The frvdsRomantic art style was a unique art style which drew away from the Neoclassical style, which was predominant. Romantic art was the complete opposite of Neoclassicism. Where neoclassical artists favoured strict forms, rules and reason and logic; Romantic artists strayed away from that form of painting and wanted to express individualism and personal emotions into their pieces. Eugene Delacroix’s The Death of Sardanapalus, as shown in Figure 1; embodies the feeling, emotions, and discord found in romantic art, but also traces of neoclassicism can be noticed in the piece, but the overall painting is too busy and hectic for the average neoclassicism painting. When compared with The Oath of Horatii, the calmness of the neoclassical painting contrasts greatly with the busy scene of The Death of Sardanapalus. Although later, Delacroix’s work starts to inch towards an earlier variation of impressionism as seen in Liberty Leading the People, Which is vastly different from The Death of Sardanapalus. All in all, The Death of Sardanapalus is a perfect example of the Romantic art style and embodies the elements that defines a piece of art as “Romantic”. Inspired by a poem by Lord Myron, Delacroix creates a discord filled scene on a huge canvas. The last Assyrian King, Sardanapalus is depicted in his last hours after finding out he will be killed in the battle. Rather than allowing himself to be killed by enemies, he plans his own suicide and orders everything that pleases him to be destroyed as well. In this painting, Sardanapalus is shown on looking as the women in his harem, his favorite horses, and servants are being killed and his possessions are burned. Even though the time of his death is drawing near, Sardanapalus’s expression remains bored as
Art has been classified into many different types of styles. Some artists reflect the style perfectly in their works and others express elements from different styles in their pieces. The frvdsRomantic art style was a unique art style which drew away from the Neoclassical style, which was predominant. Romantic art was the complete opposite of Neoclassicism. Where neoclassical artists favoured strict forms, rules and reason and logic; Romantic artists strayed away from that form of painting and wanted to express individualism and personal emotions into their pieces. Eugene Delacroix’s The Death of Sardanapalus, as shown in Figure 1; embodies the feeling, emotions, and discord found in romantic art, but also traces of neoclassicism can be noticed in the piece, but the overall painting is too busy and hectic for the average neoclassicism painting. When compared with The Oath of Horatii, the calmness of the neoclassical painting contrasts greatly with the busy scene of The Death of Sardanapalus. Although later, Delacroix’s work starts to inch towards an earlier variation of impressionism as seen in Liberty Leading the People, Which is vastly different from The Death of Sardanapalus. All in all, The Death of Sardanapalus is a perfect example of the Romantic art style and embodies the elements that defines a piece of art as “Romantic”. Inspired by a poem by Lord Myron, Delacroix creates a discord filled scene on a huge canvas. The last Assyrian King, Sardanapalus is depicted in his last hours after finding out he will be killed in the battle. Rather than allowing himself to be killed by enemies, he plans his own suicide and orders everything that pleases him to be destroyed as well. In this painting, Sardanapalus is shown on looking as the women in his harem, his favorite horses, and servants are being killed and his possessions are burned. Even though the time of his death is drawing near, Sardanapalus’s expression remains bored as