Christ Carried Down to the Tomb|Eugène Delacroix |Search Collection

Updated 15 May 2025

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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
2021: National Touring Exhibition of Western Art from the NMWA: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata / Western Art in Takaoka, Yamagata Museum of Art, 17 July 2021 - 27 August 2021, Takaoka Art Museum, 10 September-24 October 2021, cat. no. Y3_1 | T3_1

Bibliography

1859: Mantz, Paul. Salon de 1859. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 1, tome 2, 1859, pp. 129-141.
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: Fournel, V. Le Correspondant. Paris, 25. 5. 1859, pp. 157-159.
1859: Astruc, Zacharie. Les 14 stations du Salon. Préface de George Sand. Paris, 1859, pp. 255-275.
1859: Auvray, Louis. Exposition des Beaux-Arts, Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 19-21.
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: Rousseau, J. Figaro. Paris, 10. 5. 1859
1859: Baudelaire, Charles. Les curiosités esthétiques. Paris, 1859, pp. 281-290.
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: Lescure, M. de. La peinture religieuse. Gazette de France. 8. 5. and 14. 6. 1859
1859: Aubert, Maurige. Souvenirs du Salon de 1859. Paris, 1859, pp. 145-149.
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: Saint-Victor, P. de. La Presse. Paris, 23. 4. 1859
1859: Baudelaire, Charles. Le Salon de 1859. Revue Française. 10/20. 6. and 1/20. 7. 1859
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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