Medea about to Kill Her Children
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Medea about to Kill Her Children[1] (1838) is a painting by Delacroix. It was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1838 and created a sensation. It was Delacroix's first large-scale treatment of a scene from Greek mythology, the painting depicts Medea clutching her children, dagger drawn to slay them in vengeance for her abandonment by Jason. The three nude figures form an animated pyramid, bathed in a raking light which penetrates the grotto in which Medea has hidden. Though the painting was quickly purchased by the State, Delacroix was disappointed when it was sent to the Lille Musée des Beaux-Arts; he had intended for it to hang at the Palais du Luxembourg, where it would have joined The Barque of Dante and Scenes from the Massacres of Chios.