Regarded as Delacroix’s first major work, The Barque of Dante is based on a scene from the eighth canto of Dante’s Inferno. It depicts a leaden, smoky mist, with the blazing City of the Dead forming the backdrop, as the poet Dante makes a perilous crossing of the River Styx, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. The smoke to the rear and the fierce movement of the garment in which the oarsman Phlegyas is wrapped indicate a strong wind, which Dante and Virgil face into. The river is rough and the boat is lifted to the right, a point at which it is twisted towards the viewer. The painting explores psychological contrasts to highlight different responses. Virgil is visibly detached from the tumult surrounding him, but instead uses his right arm to comfort Dante, showing concern for his companion’s well-being, serving as a counterpoint to the other’s fear and notable unrest. The choppy waters are filled with the twisted forms of the damned, who in a mindless frenzy seek to overturn or interrupt the voyage. Their pallid skins, contorted forms and demonic faces are undoubtedly the most prominent aspects of the entire canvas.
Throughout his career Delacroix was celebrated for his innovative use of colour, which is evident at once in this painting. The theatrical display of bold colours in the figures at the centre of the composition is striking. The red of Dante’s cowl resonates with the fired city behind him, vividly contrasting with the billowing blue about Phlegyas. The drops of water running down the bodies of the damned are painted in a manner seldom seen until that time. Four different, unmixed pigments, in discretely applied quantities make up the image of one drop and its shadow. White is used for highlighting, strokes of yellow and green respectively denote the length of the drop, and the shadow is red. Delacroix’s pupil and chief assistant of over a decade, Pierre Andrieu, recorded that his master had told him the inspiration for these drops had come in part from the water drops visible on the water nymphs in Rubens’ The Landing of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles. The pioneering technique of depicting the water drops in The Barque of Dante first confirmed Delacroix’s status as a master colourist.
Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa — an 1819 over-life-size painting, depicting a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today’s Mauritania on July 2, 1816 — was a powerful influence for Delacroix. The infamous event lead to large parts of the crew being lost at sea for days, suffering thirst and hunger and resorting to cannibalism. In a letter to his sister, Madame Henriette de Verninac, written in 1821, Delacroix wrote of his desire to paint for the Salon the following year, and to ‘gain a little recognition’. In April 1822 he wrote to his friend Charles Soulier that he had been working endlessly for two and a half months for that purpose. The Salon opened on April 24, 1822 and Delacroix’s painting was exhibited under the title Dante et Virgile conduits par Phlégias, traversent le lac qui entoure les murailles de la ville infernale de Dité. The intense labour that was required to complete this painting in time left the artist weak and in need of recuperation. Critics expressed a range of opinions about the canvas. One of the judges at the Salon, Étienne-Jean Delécluze (destined to become his critical nemesis), was uncomplimentary, calling it ‘a real daub’ (une vraie tartouillade). Another judge, Antoine-Jean Gros, thought highly of it, describing it a ‘chastened Rubens’. An anonymous reviewer in Le Miroir expected Delacroix to become a ‘distinguished colourist’. In the summer of 1822, the French State purchased the painting for 2,000 Francs, moving it to the Musée du Luxembourg. Delacroix was delighted on hearing the news, although he feared it would be less admired for being viewed at close quarters. Some two years later he revisited the painting, reporting that it gave him much pleasure, but describing it as being insufficiently vigorous. The painting was moved in 1874 — eleven years after the death of the artist — to its present location in the Musée du Louvre.