Delacroix 2018

19. Studies of Lions, and Figures after Rubens Feuille d’études de lions et de figures d’après Rubens

Verso: Watercolor depiction of two landscapes Pen and ink on paper 9 3 ⁄ 8 x 12 1 ⁄ 8 inches (23.9 x 31 cm.) Estate sale stamp lower left: Lugt 838a

PROVENANCE Delacroix sale 1864, possibly part of lot 636 ( Etudes d’après Rubens. 17 dessins à la plume ) or lot 637 ( Autres études d’après Rubens. Dessins et croquis. 80 feuilles ); Collection Rivet. A watchful lioness presides over this study sheet, whose straining nude figures are further animated by fluid penmanship and a dynamic mise en page . The nudes are among Delacroix’s many copies and interpretations of figures from compositions by Peter Paul Rubens, particularly The Fall of the Damned and The Death of the Virgin , works which he would have known from Suyderhoef’s engravings.