334 



DELACROIX, F. V.- E, 



DELAWARE. 



conventionalist, and at eighteen years of age 

 became a pupil of Gue>in, the leader of the 

 Classical school, the dogmas of which were 

 then predominant in French art. A revolution 

 in art as well as in political and social ethics 

 was, however, in progress in the French capi- 

 tal, and young Delacroix, with a few others, 

 renouncing th e academic traditions of their mas- 

 ter, became the founders of the new Romantic 

 school, which was destined to supplant that of 

 David and his followers His first picture, rep- 

 resenting " Dante and Virgil making their Pas- 

 sage around the Infernal City," was exhibited in 

 1822, and indicated a radical departure from the 

 cold correctness of manner in vogue. A some- 

 what embittered newspaper controversy was 

 the result, and Thiers, then a writer in the 

 *' Constitutional," predicted for the painter a 

 distinguished career in his profession. "The 

 Massacre of Scio " followed in the succeeding 

 year, and Delacroix, at the age of twenty-five, 

 found himself the acknowledged chief of the 

 new school. Both pictures are now in the na- 

 tional collection at the Luxembourg. 



During the next few years he produced a 

 number of works received with enthusiasm by 

 his constantly increasing body of disciples and 

 admirers, and which the advocates of the Class- 

 ical school endeavored in vain to have withheld 

 from public exhibition. Among these were 

 w The Execution of Marino Faliero," " Christ 

 in the Garden," " Mephistopheles appearing to 

 Faust," " Milton dictating Paradise Lost to his 

 Daughters," and " Cardinal Richelieu officiat- 

 ing in the Chapel of the Palais Royal." The 

 revolution of July gave a fresh impulse to his 

 genius, and supplied him with new subjects, 

 one of the most happily executed of which 

 was "Liberty leading the People at the Barri- 

 cades." A journey to Morocco, in 1831, in like 

 manner opened the rich repertory of oriental 

 life and scenery, and his "Women of Algiers," 

 exhibited in 1834, placed him in the estimation 

 of Parisian critics on a level with Rubens as a 

 colorist. 



At this period Thiers, who occupied the po- 

 sition of minister of the interior, appointed him 

 to paint the walls of the Salon du Roi, at the 

 Palais Bourbon, on which, during the next three 

 years, he executed a series of symbolical works 

 representing justice, war, peace, agriculture, 

 industry, &c., regarded as among the best speci- 

 mens of his more elevated style. Many other 

 commissions for public buildings and churches 

 followed, in addition to which he produced a 

 succession of gallery and cabinet pictures, ex- 

 hibiting a remarkable range of subjects, and 

 the mature development of his style. Among 

 these may be named his famous " Medea," now 

 in the gallery of the Luxembourg, the battles 

 of "Nancy" and " Taillebourg," the "Taking 

 of Constantinople by the Latins," " Cleopatra," 

 "Hamlet with the Skull of Yorick," the "Jus- 

 tice of Trajan," the " Death of Marcus Aure- 

 lius," " Ovid in Exile," " Christ at the Tomb," 

 and the " Resurrection of Lazarus," beside nu- 



merous other scriptural and eastern subjects, 

 illustrations of Shakespeare, Goethe, Scott, and 

 Byron, and a few portraits, including a well 

 known one of Madame Dudevant (George 

 Sand), in male attire, and one of Talma. At 

 the Exposition Universelle of 1855, he exhib- 

 ited, in addition to a collection of his most re- 

 markable works, a new picture, "The Lion 

 Hunt," exceeding in color and composition 

 anything that he had previously produced. On 

 this occasion he received one of the grand med- 

 als of honor ; and, in 1857, he succeeded to the 

 seat in the institute, made vacant by the death 

 of Paul Delaroche. At his death he was also 

 commander in the Legion of Honor. As an 

 author he is known by several characteristic 

 papers on art, published in the Revue des Deux 

 Mondes and other periodicals. 



Delacroix painted in a bold, free manner, 

 despising apparently careful finish and minute 

 detail ; and in his eagerness to obtain striking 

 effects he was frequently inaccurate in draw- 

 ing, and inharmonious in color. An impetuous 

 energy of style, which permitted no pauses for 

 correction or revision, was one of his chief char- 

 acteristics; and the result, as seen in some of his 

 pictures, may naturally account for the distaste 

 with which they were once regarded by his 

 old opponents of the Classical school, to whom 

 nicety of drawing and a severely formal style 

 had been long familiar. He, nevertheless, had 

 true artistic feeling, a fertile fancy, and was a 

 surprising colorist, although the claim of his 

 admirers that in the latter respect he equalled 

 Rubens and the Venetian masters will not be 

 universally allowed. He will not, perhaps, ul- 

 timately take the rank which has been assigned 

 to him ; but that he exerted a great and bene- 

 ficial influence on contemporary French art, 

 cannot be questioned. 



DELAWARE, which is the smallest State in 

 the Union, except Rhode Island, is about 96 

 miles in length, and 37 miles in its greatest 

 breadth, including an area of 2,120 square 

 miles, or 1,356,800 acres. Its population in 

 1860 was 90,589 whites ; 19,829 free colored, 

 and 1,798 slaves. The State is divided into 

 three counties, viz. : Kent, Newcastle, and Suf- 

 folk. The total vote of the State in 1860 was 

 16,039. In 1862 the vote for governor was 

 16,199 ; for members of Congress 16,065. 



The governor elect of the State, William 

 Cannon, was inaugurated in January, at which 

 time a biennial session of the Legislature com- 

 menced. This body consists of nine senators, 

 and twenty-one representatives, which wt'iv 

 divided as follows : Senate Administration 4, 

 Opposition 5; House 7, Administration, 14 

 Opposition. Soon after the commencement of 

 the session the following resolutions passed 

 both Houses : 



Whereas the Government of the United States and 

 the several States are governments of laws, within the 

 limits of which all officials find their rightful powers, 

 and outside of which no official has any just claim to 

 power or to obedience from his fellow citizens ; and 

 whereas William Cannon, the Governor of this State, 



