Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

French painter, one of the central figures of French Romanticism, along with Hector Berlioz in music and Victor Hugo in literature. His vivid use of color within somewhat somber boundaries, and the surging energy of his human and animal figures, make his work seem more closely related to the music of Berlioz than to that of Delacroix's reserved and introspective friend, Chopin. Delacroix was typically romantic in his enthusiasm for creative fields other than his own, and took part in the vital cross-fertilization of European music, literature, and painting that characterized the first half of the nineteenth century. He commemorated the July Revolution of 1830 in one of his best-known works, Liberty Leading the People (1830), created the same year as Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. His awareness of music led to his gripping portrayals of Paganini (1832) and Chopin (1838). His busy late work, Lion Hunt (1861), incorporates some influences from his brief trip to Morocco in 1832.

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