Götz von Berlichingen Writing His Memoirs
Many of Delacroix’s graphic works represent literary texts. This sheet is likely a preparatory drawing for a lithograph (shown at right) in an obscure series of prints illustrating Goethe’s play Götz von Berlichingen, first published in German in 1773. Under house arrest on the orders of Emperor Maximilien I, the noble mercenary soldier Götz is shown writing his memoirs in the company of his wife, Elizabeth. In the lithograph, the young, robust Romantic hero has noticeably aged. The dating of this drawing is ambiguous since Delacroix painted the same subject in 1849. It is also possible that the drawing was a study for the painting of the same title, now in a private collection.
Artwork Details
- Title: Götz von Berlichingen Writing His Memoirs
- Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
- Date: 1840–42 or 1849
- Medium: Graphite on beige wove paper
- Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 7 9/16 in. (24.5 x 19.2 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.1.614
- Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection
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Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863
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