Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel

Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel is a pivotal lithograph created by the French Romantic master Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) in 1828. This important print demonstrates Delacroix’s intense engagement with literary subjects, particularly scenes drawn from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s dramatic epic, Faust. Executed in black on ivory wove paper, the technique captures the expressive power Delacroix found in the medium of lithography, which allowed him to achieve rich, painterly effects often absent in traditional engraving.

The composition centers on the profound melancholy of the protagonist, Marguerite (Gretchen), as she tends to her domestic task. Drawing on the emotional intensity characteristic of the Romantic movement in France, Delacroix utilizes the inherent tonal range of the lithographic process to heighten the psychological drama. He focuses on deep shadows and concentrated passages of light, emphasizing Marguerite’s isolation and despair following her seduction by Faust. The technique relies on loose, dynamic strokes rather than the precise linearity favored by Neoclassical contemporaries, successfully lending energy and psychological tension to the scene.

The prints from Delacroix’s Faust series were widely influential, solidifying his reputation as a leading illustrator and dramatic interpreter of key European literature. This specific image, Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel, is significant as an emotionally charged example of Delacroix’s masterful handling of the print medium. The artwork is classified as a print and remains a key holding in the extensive collection of Romantic-era works maintained by the Art Institute of Chicago.