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Updated 15 April 2025

Currently not on display

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Currently not on display

Eugène Delacroix

Charenton-Saint-Maurice, 1798 - Paris, 1863

Christ Carried Down to the Tomb

Date 1859
Materials and Techniques oil on canvas
Size(cm) 56.3 x 46.3
Inscriptions Signed and dated lower right: Eug. Delacroix / 1859.
Credit Line Purchased
Standard ref. Robaut 1380; Johnson 470
Category Paintings
Collection Number P.1975-0002

This work is related to Christ's Entombment, a work from 1848 now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is known as one of the 1859 Salon paintings when Delacroix also displayed The Abduction of Rebecca (Musée du Louvre, Paris) and Christ Carrying the Cross (Mainz Municipal Museum). This work reflects the artist's sense of tragedy as he suffered from illness and the deaths of his friends. The work's deep religiosity relates to the character of his revered Rembrandt. According to René Huyghe, the motif of steps moving from above ground to below ground appears in several works by Rembrandt, and the S-shaped form provides the work with appropriate compositional movement. Baudelaire made the following comment regarding this painting in his critique of the 1859 Salon, "There is no finer expression of this theme than Christ Carried Down to the Tomb (originally referred to as The Entombment of Christ). It would take a Titian to create such a work. He would use a different method in the creation of his composition but, yes this is true. However, I much prefer this work . . ." (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.59)

Provenance

A. Bergeaud; A. Magne; Georges Bernheim, Paris; Antonio Santa Marina, Buenos Aires; Auc., London, 1974; Galerie Nathan, Zürich; Purchased by the NMWA, 1975.

Exhibition History

1859
Salon de 1859, Palais des Champs-Elysées, Paris, 15 April 1859 - 0  1859, cat. no. 820
1885
Eugène Delacroix, École National des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 6 March 1885 - 15 April 1885, cat. no. 133
1910
Vingt peintres du 19e siècle, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 2 May 1910 - 31 May 1910, cat. no. 65
1933
Escuela francesa, siglos 19 y 20, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, 20 October 1933 - 5 November 1933, cat. no. 35
1939
Exposiciones de arte francés: I, La pintura francesa, de David a nuestros días, óleos, dibujos y acuarelas, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, 0 July 1939 - 0 August 1939, cat. no. 51
1963
Delacroix, ses maîtres, ses amis, ses élèves, Musée de Bordeaux, 17 May 1963 - 30 September 1963, cat. no. 55
1987
Eugène Delacroix , Kunsthaus Zürich, 5 June 1987 - 23 August 1987, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main, 24 September 1987-10 January 1988, cat. no. 116, col. repr.
1988
Eugène Delacroix , Museo del Prado, Palacio de Villahermosa, 2 March 1988 - 20 April 1988, cat. no. 74, col. repr.
1995
Permanent exhibition, Ohara Museum of Art, 6 March 1995 - 17 July 1995
1996
The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 78
1998
Delacroix: les dernières années, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 7 April 1998 - 20 July 1998, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 10 September 1998-3 January 1999, cat. no. 127, col. repr.
2014
Voices Calling from the Unusual: Hirano Keiichiro's Selection of Western Art Masterpieces, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 8 April 2014 - 15 June 2014, cat. no. 16

Bibliography

1859
Rousseau, J. Figaro. Paris, 10. 5. 1859
1859
Chesneau, E. Livre étude sur l'art contemporain, Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 164-166.
1859
Dumas, Alexandre. L'art et les artistes contemporains au Salon de 1859. Paris, Librairie Nouvelle; A. Bourdilliat et ce, 1859, pp. 9-13.
1859
Houssaye, A. Le Monde Illustré. Paris, 7. 5. 1859, p. 295.
1859
Stevens, M. Impression d'une femme au Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 26-34.
1859
Aubert, Maurige. Souvenirs du Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 145-149.
1859
Astruc, Zacharie. Les 14 stations du Salon. Préface de George Sand. Paris, 1859, pp. 255-275.
1859
Fouquier, Henry. Études artistiques. Marseille, Arnaud, 1859, pp. 7-9.
1859
Gautier, Théophile. L'Exposition de 1859, M. Eugène Delacroix. Moniteur Universel. Paris, 21. 5. 1859
1859
Jourdan, L. Les peintres français, Salon de 1859. 1859, pp. 33-35.
1859
Lescure, M. de. La peinture religieuse. Gazette de France. 8. 5. and 14. 6. 1859
1859
Saint-Victor, P. de. La Presse. Paris, 23. 4. 1859
1859
Mantz, Paul. Salon de 1859. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 1, tome 2, 1859, pp. 129-141.
1859
Baudelaire, Charles. Le Salon de 1859. Revue Française. 10/20. 6. and 1/20. 7. 1859
1859
Auvray, Louis. Exposition des Beaux-Arts, Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 19-21.
1859
Baudelaire, Charles. Les curiosités esthétiques. Paris, 1859, pp. 281-290.
1859
Chalons d' Arge, A.-P. Notices sur les principaux tableaux de l'Exposition de 1859. Paris, 1859
1859
Dumesnil, H. Le Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 78-83.
1859
Montaiglon, A. de. Revue universelle des Arts. tome 9, Paris, 1859, p. 442.
1859
Tardieu, A. Le Constitutionnel. Paris, 22. 4. 1859
1859
Fournel, V. Le Correspondant. Paris, 25. 5. 1859, pp. 157-159.
1864
Cantaloube, Amédée. Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1864, p. 98.
1873
Moreau, Adolphe. E. Delacroix et son œuvre. Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1873, p. 193.
1885
Robaut, Alfred. L'œuvre complet d'Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1885, p. 371, no. 1380.
1886
Tourneux, Maurice. Eugène Delacroix devant ses contemporains. Paris, Librairie de l'art, 1886, pp. 98-103.
1887
Véron, Eugène. Eugène Delacroix. Paris, Librairie de l'Art, 1887, p. 102.
1916
Moreau-Nélaton, Étienne. Delacroix raconté par lui-même. vol. 2, Paris, 1916, fig. 405.
1929
Escholier, Raymond. Delacroix: peintre, graveur, écrivain. [vol. 3], Paris, H. Floury, 1929, pp. 241, 249, repr.
1960
Huyghe, René. L'art et l'âme. Paris, Flammarion, 1960, p. 432, fig. 256.
1963
Sérullaz, Maurice. Mémorial de l'exposition Eugéne Delacroix organisée au Musée du Louvre. Paris, Éditions des Musées Nationaux, 1963, nos. 498-499.
1964
Huyghe, René. Delacroix: ou le combat solitaire. [Paris], Hachette, 1964, pp. 482, 483, pl. 366.
1969
Robaut, Alfred; Chesneau, Ernest. L'œuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix: peintures, dessins, gravures, lithographies. New York, Da Capo Press, 1969(1st ed., Paris, 1885), p. 371, no. 1380, repr.
1971
Sérullaz, Maurice. Eugéne Delacroix. New York, Harry N. Abrams, [1971], p. 36, fig. 46.
1972
Bortolatto, Luigina Rossi. L'opera pittorica completa di Delacroix. Milano, Rizzoli, 1972, p. 131, no. 766.
1974
Strauss, Michel; Cooper Douglas. Impressionism & Modern Art. London/New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1974, pp. 2, 3.
1977
Bulletin Annuel du Musée National d’Art Occidental, No. 10 (1975), 1977, Nouvelles acquisitions, par Chisaburoh F. Yamada, p. 5. Nouvelles acquisitions (catalogue). pp. 8-11. repr.
1978
Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 28, col. repr.
1979
The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 81, repr.
1987
Eugène Delacroix (exh. cat.). Metken, Günter. Zürich, Das Kunsthaus, 1987, pp. 276-277, 336, cat. no. 116, col. repr.
1998
Delacroix: les Dernières Années (exh. cat.). Philadelphia Museum of Art; Réunion des musées nationaux; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1998, pp. 298-303, 378, cat. no. 127, repr.
2006
Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 59, col. repr.
2009
Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 59, col. repr.
2013
Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 75, col. repr.
2021
When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 110, 182, cat. no. Y3_1 | T3_1, col. repr.

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