The Prisoner of Chillon (painting)

The Prisoner of Chillon
ArtistEugène Delacroix
Year1834
TypeOil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions73.5 cm × 92.5 cm (28.9 in × 36.4 in)
LocationLouvre, Paris

The Prisoner of Chillon (French: Le Prisonnier de Chillon) is an 1834 oil painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix.[1] It depicts a scene from the 1816 poem of the same title by the British writer Lord Byron set in the sixteenth century.[2] It portrays the Swiss hero François Bonivard chained in a dungeon of Chillon Castle, straining to reach out towards his younger brother.[3]

It was exhibited at the Salon of 1835 at the Louvre in Paris.[4] It received a mixed reception, but generally admired for its brushwork and energy.[5] It is now in the collection of the Louvre, having been acquired in 1906.[6]

References

  1. ^ Alston p.40
  2. ^ Johnson p.68
  3. ^ Davies p.63
  4. ^ Allard p.166 & Fabre
  5. ^ Johnson p.69
  6. ^ https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/000PE000916

Bibliography

  • Allard, Sébastien & Fabre, Côme. Delacroix. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018.
  • Alston, Isabella. Delacroix. TAJ Books International, 2014.
  • Davies, Elspeth. Portrait of Delacroix. Pentland Press, 1994.
  • Johnson, Lee. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue, 1816-1831, Volume 3