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| Eugène Delacroix Taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders 1840 oil on canvas Musée du Louvre |
Title and Subject
This work is known by two titles: that which appeared on the commission conveyed to the painter by the cultural ministry of Louis-Philippe and under which the painting was exhibited in 1841 – Taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders; and another which little by little has come into usage – Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople. Depending on the title one gives it, the picture assumes a different meaning. The two titles do not commemorate the same event.
In the first case, the canvas glorifies not only France, but also and primarily the surviving remnants of France's nobility, whose ancestors had led the attack, since this image was destined to hang in the hall devoted to the Crusades in the gallery of battles at Versailles. Under the second title we can better perceive the skepticism of Delacroix concerning the military adventure he was called on to depict, which had in fact amounted to nothing better than a pretext for pillage under the cloak of religion. That is why it is possible to discover the painter's features in the fallen figure at extreme right gazing upward in pain and losing his grip on a torch. That is why the waving banners, far from displaying recognizable arms of the great families, are rendered as mere drapery in black and red.
The artist intended to snub the Crusaders and their descendants, those who had in some sense usurped his own name ("Delacroix" meaning literally "of the Cross"), of which they had proved themselves unworthy, pillaging Constantinople instead of delivering Jerusalem. But he wished also to snub the king, Louis-Philippe, the picture's patron, who was all the more odious to Delacroix because of his own unavoidable dependence on royal favor for continuing opportunities to paint historical extravaganzas like this one. Beyond that, the king had let it be known that he was hoping for a painting that would, if possible, "not have the air of a typical Delacroix."
The artist intended to snub the Crusaders and their descendants, those who had in some sense usurped his own name ("Delacroix" meaning literally "of the Cross"), of which they had proved themselves unworthy, pillaging Constantinople instead of delivering Jerusalem. But he wished also to snub the king, Louis-Philippe, the picture's patron, who was all the more odious to Delacroix because of his own unavoidable dependence on royal favor for continuing opportunities to paint historical extravaganzas like this one. Beyond that, the king had let it be known that he was hoping for a painting that would, if possible, "not have the air of a typical Delacroix."
– translated and adapted from Le Musée imaginaire de Michel Butor: 105 œuvres décisives de la peinture occidentale (Paris: Flammarion, 2019)