Apollo Slays Python
Eugène Delacroix (1798 - 1863), Paris, 1850
oil on paper, 66.2 cm x 60.3 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Delacroix created this study in preparation for his ceiling painting in the Louvre, which explains its unusual format. The artist depicted the mythological tale of the god Apollo and the monstrous, serpent-like creature Python.
The vivid yellows and oranges in the sky surrounding Apollo contrast with the dark purples used for Python – and the smoke emitted by the creature. These colours amplify each other’s visual impact and symbolic meaning: yellow representing ‘good’ and purple ‘evil.’ Delacroix’s ingenious use of complementary colours was a major inspiration for Van Gogh, who further developed this artistic device in his own work.
- Object number
- s0526S2012
- Dimensions
- 66.2 cm x 60.3 cm, 89.5 cm x 83 cm, 9 cm
- Provenance
- Posthumous studio auction, Paris, Hotel Drouot (Ventes publiques de peintures et de dessins d'Eugène Delacroix), lot 30 (Apollon vainqueur du serpent Python, 1ière pensée pour la Galerie d'Apollon du Louvre Paris), purchased by Adrien Dauzats for FRF 1.000, between 17 and 27 February 1864; purchased by Don Mariano Miguel Maldonado y Dávalos, Conde de Villagonzalo VII, Marques de la Scala, Madrid, c. 1868; after his death on 10 August 1921 inherited by his son, Don Fernando Maldonado y Salabert, Conde de Villagonzalo VIII, Marques de la Scala, Madrid; after his death on 11 July 1936 bequeathed to his heirs; private collection, 2003; consigned by this private collector to auction London, Christie's (19th century European art including Orientalist art), lot 24, purchased by the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam for GBP 361.250, 12 June 2012.
- artist
- Eugène Delacroix
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
London, National Gallery (London), Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, 17 February-22 May 2016, no. 11
Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, 18 October 2015-10 January 2016, no. 11
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014, no. geen catnr. / no cat. no.
Barcelona, CaixaForum Barcelona, Delacroix. De l'idée à l'expression (1798-1863), 14 February-22 May 2012, no. 147
Madrid, CaixaForum Madrid, Delacroix. De l'idée à l'expression (1798-1863), 19 October 2011-15 January 2012, no. 147
Darley, Esther, Suijver, Renske, Masterpieces in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2019, p. 80
Darley, Esther, Suijver, Renske, Meesterwerken in het Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2019, p. 80
Vellekoop, Marije, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Hendriks, Ella, Van Gogh aan het werk, Amsterdam, 2013, p. 106, 250
Bakker, Nienke, Van Gogh aan het werk : hoogtepunten, Amsterdam, 2013, p. 14-15
19th century European art including Orientalist art, London, 2012, p. 34-37
Allard, Sébastien, Arrada, A., Hannoosh, Michèle, Laugée, Thierry, Delacroix : de l'idée à l'expression (1798-1863), Madrid, 2011, p. 210-213, 234-241, 324
Bresc-Bautier, G., La galerie d'Apollon au Palais du Louvre, Paris, 2004, p. 181-196, 272-273
Johnson, L. (Lee), A new oil sketch by Delacroix for 'Apollo slays Python’, p. 35-36
Delacroix, E., Joubin, A., Journal de Eugène Delacroix 1822-1863, Parus, 1950, p. 351, 353-354, 356-357, 363, 371-373
Calmettes, F., Chesneau, Ernest, Robaut, Alfred, L'oeuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix : peintures, dessins, gravures, lithographies, Paris, 1885, p. 293
Johnson, L. (Lee), The paintings of Eugène Delacroix : a critical catalogue. Vol. V: The public decorations and their sketches., Oxford, 1989, p. 123, 128-130