Rebuilding from the Ruins – Images of Greece by Eugène Delacroix ARETI DEVETZIDIS BA Hons, Grad. Dip. Modern Greek, B Soc. Admin, BA, Dip. T. Art. Thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics (Modern Greek) College of Humanities and Social Science Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia November 2017 i TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................IV ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................V DECLARATION .............................................................................................................................VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. VII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 The Four Paintings................................................................................................................... 5 Violence ................................................................................................................................... 7 Literature review ........................................................................................................................ 18 Principal sources ....................................................................................................................... 18 Principal Sources regarding Delacroix’s art ............................................................................ 22 Sources regarding Style and subject matter in French art. ..................................................... 26 French politics ........................................................................................................................ 28 Greek history and politics ....................................................................................................... 29 The Crusades ........................................................................................................................ 30 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 31 Contribution ........................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 2 FROM NEO-CLASSICISM TO ROMANTICISM ...................................................... 35 Mannerism, baroque, rococo. .................................................................................................... 35 Mannerism ................................................................................................................................ 36 Baroque .................................................................................................................................... 36 Rococo ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Neo-classicism .......................................................................................................................... 38 Jacques-Louis David .............................................................................................................. 42 Romanticism ............................................................................................................................. 49 Conflict between classicists and romantics ................................................................................ 53 Orientalism ................................................................................................................................ 71 A diplomatic delegation ............................................................................................................. 57 CHAPTER 3 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES – “NEGLECT NOTHING THAT CAN MAKE YOU GREAT!” ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 64 From the French Revolution of 1789 to 1840 ............................................................................. 64 The Greek Revolution and Delacroix ......................................................................................... 65 Eugène Delacroix – his birth, his health and his family life ......................................................... 76 Education .................................................................................................................................. 79 Personality .................................................................................................................................. 8 Delacroix’s career and achievements ........................................................................................ 14 Experiencing/Experimenting with Romanticism ......................................................................... 14 i A question of paternity ............................................................................................................... 81 Summary .................................................................................. 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CHAPTER 4 “A WAY OF DRAWING SOME ATTENTION TO MYSELF……” SCENES FROM THE MASSACRES AT CHIOS ..................................................................................................... 88 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 88 The massacres at Chios ........................................................................................................ 93 The shadow of Géricault in Scenes from the Massacres at Chios ............................................. 95 Reception ............................................................................................................................ 104 Salon of 1824 – classicism versus romanticism ................................................................... 110 Contraste Simultané ............................................................................................................ 117 CHAPTER 5 “OI ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΙ ΠΟΛΙΟΡΚHΜΕΝΟΙ” – THE FREE BESEIGED – GREECE ON THE RUINS OF MESSOLONGHI ............................................................................................... 123 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 124 Sieges of Messolonghi – death of Lord Byron, and the fall of Messolonghi.............................. 125 Exhibition – “au profit des Grecs” ............................................................................................ 127 French art and liberalism ......................................................................................................... 130 Byron, Solomos and Delacroix ................................................................................................ 132 The Painting – Greece on the Ruins of Messolonghi ............................................................... 138 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 143 CHAPTER 6 ‘MÉDÉE FURIEUSE’ – TOWARDS PAINTING THE ‘OBJET D’ART’ ................... 146 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 146 The light of Meknes .............................................................................................................. 147 Delacroix and Medea............................................................................................................... 149 Delacroix and his Ambivalence towards Women ..................................................................... 150 Visual Analysis –‘Médée Furieuse’ - Medea Pursued and about to Kill her Children ............... 152 Origins, traditions and Ambiguities – the many faces of Medea. .............................................. 156 1. From the old Myth to Euripides’ Tragedy ......................................................................... 156 2. After Euripides ................................................................................................................. 159 The Cave ............................................................................................................................. 161 A More Complicated Ambivalence ....................................................................................... 163 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 168 CHAPTER 7 ............................................................................................................................... 172 ENTRY OF THE CRUSADERS INTO CONSTANTINOPLE – A QUESTION OF LEGITIMACY . 172 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 172 Political Context in France ..................................................................................................