Responding to resurgent interest in 19th-century French painting - with its rich connections to revolutionary politics, exoticism, romance and nationalism - this text looks at one of the period's most elusive artists - Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863). Delacroix produced stormy, romantic works like The Death of Sardanapalus and then turned to more classically inspired paintings, such as Liberty Leading the People . In this tribute to the artist, Jobert explores the driving inner tensions and contradictions behind both Delacroix's life and work. Jobert not only re-creates the political and cultural arenas in which Delacroix thrived, but also allows readers an opportunity to appreciate the full range of his artistic production. Delacroix's large canvases, decorative cycles, watercolours, and engravings, which are widely dispersed throughout the world, are represented here in 231 colour plates. The book is timed to commemorate the bicentenary of Delacroix's birth.