Death of Sardanapalus

Death of Sardanapalus (1827) by Eugène Delacroix. Its palette is led by graphite (#3f3b39, 32%) and iron (#53504a, 21%), with accents of rich orange brown, pewter and light amber gold. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, muted and warm.

Color note

Delacroix studied how colors act on each other side by side, using complementary contrasts and colored shadows. His ideas about color shaped the Impressionists and Van Gogh.

Palette

#3f3b39 MG 218 graphite 31.6% of canvas
#53504a MG 217 iron 21.5% of canvas
#1d1d1b MG 222 charcoal 17.1% of canvas
#975b3f MG 158 rich orange brown 12.2% of canvas
#9a9794 MG 214 pewter 10.2% of canvas
#d0d3d6 MG 206 silver 4.9% of canvas
#bfb37b MG 037 light amber gold 2.5% of canvas

Color families

Brown 39%, Gray 37%, Black 17%, Yellow 2%, White 2%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.44
Contrast: 0.54
Vividness: 0.026
Warmth: +0.97
Complexity: 181 cells
Hue range: 0.49
Focus: 0.15

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the right half, 54% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.12 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 15% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 31% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1827
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 392.0 × 496.0 cm
Genre: history painting
Collection: Department of Paintings of the Louvre

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