Eugène Delacroix - Pencil Drawing - Portrait Mirabeau

A rare portrait by Eugène Delacroix depicting Mirabeau* in profile.

*Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, "Count" of Mirabeau, more commonly known as Mirabeau, born March 9, 1749, at the Château de Bignon-Mirabeau in the Loiret region, and died April 2, 1791, in Paris, was a French writer, diplomat, journalist, and politician, a key figure of the French Revolution, of which he was one of the founding fathers.
Nicknamed "the Hercules of Liberty," "the People's Orator," and "the Torch of Provence," he remains the foremost symbol of parliamentary eloquence in France.

The work bears the red "ED" stamp from the Delacroix posthumous sale of February 21, 1864; it was part of lot 322 ("Mirabeau Responding to the Marquis de Dreux-Brézé," drawings and sketches, lot of 14 sheets).
This lot of drawings is referenced in the work "The Complete Works of Eugène Delacroix" by Alfred Robaut, published in 1885, under number 1562 "Mirabeau and Dreux-Brézé - 1831".

Our drawing is a study of Mirabeau's head for Delacroix's painting "Mirabeau in front of Dreux-Brézé", executed in 1831, which is currently in the collections of the Glytoceca Ny Carlsberg Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Delacroix painted several oil sketches of this subject (one of which is in the Musée Delacroix in Paris) as well as several dozen preparatory drawings (see comparative photos).

On June 23, 1789, in Versailles, Henri-Évrard de Dreux-Brézé was sent by King Louis XVI to ask the deputies, who had been meeting since May for the Estates-General, to adjourn.
Some deputies protested and refused to obey, including Mirabeau, who is said to have exclaimed: "Go tell those who sent you that we are here by the will of the people and that we will only be removed by the power of bayonets !"

A unique opportunity to acquire a drawing depicting a major figure of the French Revolution by Delacroix !

Pencil on tracing paper laid down on paper (a support often used by Delacroix).

14.5 x 10.2 cm for the drawing, mounted on an 18.8 x 13 cm sheet with a cartouche bearing the artist's name (sold unframed for now).

Very good overall condition

Stamped "ED" lower left (referenced Lugt number L.838a)

Photos taken in natural light

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