Where Is The Death of Sardanapalus? See It at Louvre, Paris

Q: Where can I see The Death of Sardanapalus?

It's at the Louvre in Paris. Eugène Delacroix painted it in 1827. The painting was controversial at its Salon debut and contributed to heated debates about Romantic art in France.

Q: What is the subject?

The Assyrian king Sardanapalus reclines on a massive bed watching his servants destroy his possessions (including concubines, horses, and treasures) before enemies breach his palace. Based loosely on a Lord Byron play, the scene depicts the king's command that everything he owns be destroyed rather than captured.

Q: Why was this painting controversial?

Critics condemned its chaotic composition, graphic violence, and sensuality. Academic painters expected orderly arrangements and moral subjects. This painting offered neither. The swirling mass of bodies, jewels, and destruction overwhelmed viewers. Even Delacroix's supporters struggled to defend it publicly.

Q: How big is The Death of Sardanapalus?

It's enormous: 392 cm × 496 cm (12 feet 10 inches × 16 feet 3 inches). The massive scale amplifies the chaos. The red bed dominates the composition, with Sardanapalus surveying the destruction with eerie calm.

Q: What art movement does this represent?

It's a landmark of Romanticism. Delacroix favored emotion, movement, and dramatic color over the restraint of Neoclassicism. The painting's wild energy and exotic subject matter embody everything the Romantic movement stood for: passion over reason.

Eugène Delacroix painted The Death of Sardanapalus in 1827, inspired by Lord Byron's 1821 play about the legendary Assyrian king. Facing military defeat and humiliation, Sardanapalus orders the destruction of everything he treasured: his horses, slaves, and concubines will burn with him on a vast funeral pyre. He reclines on a bed, watching the chaos.

The painting explodes with violence and red fabric. Bodies twist in agony. Servants slaughter horses. The composition tilts directly toward the viewer, breaking classical rules about ordered space. Critics at the 1827 Salon called it "the fanaticism of ugliness." Delacroix reveled in Byronic drama, and this is Romanticism at its most extreme.

The canvas is monumental: 392 by 496 centimeters, roughly 12 by 16 feet. It hangs at the Louvre in Paris. Delacroix made a smaller replica in 1844, now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The original inspired a Berlioz cantata and an unfinished Liszt opera.

It's at the Louvre in Paris. Eugène Delacroix painted it in 1827. The painting was controversial at its Salon debut and contributed to heated debates about Romantic art in France.

The Assyrian king Sardanapalus reclines on a massive bed watching his servants destroy his possessions (including concubines, horses, and treasures) before enemies breach his palace. Based loosely on a Lord Byron play, the scene depicts the king's command that everything he owns be destroyed rather than captured.

Critics condemned its chaotic composition, graphic violence, and sensuality. Academic painters expected orderly arrangements and moral subjects. This painting offered neither. The swirling mass of bodies, jewels, and destruction overwhelmed viewers. Even Delacroix's supporters struggled to defend it publicly.

It's enormous: 392 cm × 496 cm (12 feet 10 inches × 16 feet 3 inches). The massive scale amplifies the chaos. The red bed dominates the composition, with Sardanapalus surveying the destruction with eerie calm.

It's a landmark of Romanticism. Delacroix favored emotion, movement, and dramatic color over the restraint of Neoclassicism. The painting's wild energy and exotic subject matter embody everything the Romantic movement stood for: passion over reason.

The Death of Sardanapalus

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Where to See It

The Artist

More by Eugène Delacroix

The Italian Theatre

Two Views of an Indian from Calcutta, Seated and Standing

The Orphan Girl at the Cemetery

A Mulatto Woman

Also at Louvre, Paris

Artemis of Versailles

The Concert: Singer and Theorbo Player

The Combat of Mars and Minerva

Madonna and Sleeping Child with Three Angels

Related Romanticism Works

The Fighting Temeraire

The Hay Wain

The Clothed Maja

The Third of May 1808

The Nude Maja

The Dog

Saturn Devouring His Son

The Angelus

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