Figure Studies after Veronese's "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian"

Figure Studies after Veronese's "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" by Eugène Delacroix is a powerful example of the French Romantic master’s academic grounding. Created sometime between 1820 and 1829, this drawing, rendered in swift pen and brown ink, reveals Delacroix’s intense scrutiny of Renaissance composition and anatomy. The practice of creating figure studies from established masters, particularly the dynamic Venetian school, was central to the artistic development of the era. This particular work focuses on adapting the dramatic poses and musculature visible in Paolo Veronese’s sixteenth-century composition of The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.

Delacroix used the fluid medium of brown ink to capture the rapid energy and anatomical tension of the figures being copied. Unlike highly finished academic drawings, this piece emphasizes gesture and overall form, reflecting the preparatory nature of the sketch. The decade of the 1820s was pivotal for Delacroix, who was actively developing the Romantic style defined by expressive color and movement, skills he honed partly through these rigorous observational copies of earlier masterworks. This preparatory focus on human anatomy and dramatic positioning would later inform his great narrative paintings, such as The Death of Sardanapalus.

The work is classified as a drawing and serves as a vital document of Delacroix's method of learning from history. This important study resides in the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As the original piece enters the public domain, high-quality digital reproductions and prints are frequently made available, allowing scholars and enthusiasts worldwide to appreciate the foundational studies that underpinned the revolutionary career of Delacroix.