Editing Eugène Delacroix (section)

==Murals and later life==
In 1838 Delacroix exhibited ''Medea about to Kill Her Children'', which created a sensation at the Salon. His 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 that 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 [[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille|Lille Musée des Beaux-Arts]]; he had intended for it to hang at the Luxembourg, where it would have joined ''[[The Barque of Dante]]'' and ''[[Scenes from the Massacres of Chios]]''.<ref>Jobert, pp. 245–46.</ref>

From 1833 on Delacroix received numerous commissions to decorate public buildings in Paris. In that year he began work for the Salon du Roi in the Chambre des Députés, [[Palais Bourbon]], which was not completed until 1837, and began a lifelong friendship with the female artist [[Madame Cavé|Marie-Élisabeth Blavot-Boulanger]]. For the next ten years he painted in both the Library at the Palais Bourbon and the Library at the Palais du Luxembourg. In 1843 he decorated the Church of St. Denis du Saint Sacrement with a large ''Pietà'', and from 1848 to 1850 he painted the ceiling in the [[Galerie d'Apollon]] of the [[Louvre]]. From 1857 to 1861 he worked on frescoes for the Chapelle des Anges at the [[Church of Saint-Sulpice]] in Paris. They included "[[Jacob Wrestling with the Angel]]", "Saint Michael Slaying the Dragon", and "The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Spector|first1=Jack J.|title=The Murals of Eugène Delacroix at Saint-Sulpice|date=1985|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press}}</ref> These commissions offered him the opportunity to compose on a large scale in an architectural setting, much as had those masters he admired, [[Paolo Veronese]], [[Tintoretto]], and Rubens.

The work was fatiguing, and during these years he suffered from an increasingly fragile constitution. In addition to his home in Paris, from 1844 he also lived at a small cottage in [[Champrosay]], where he found respite in the countryside. From 1834 until his death, he was faithfully cared for by his housekeeper, Jeanne-Marie le Guillou, who zealously guarded his privacy, and whose devotion prolonged his life and his ability to continue working in his later years.<ref>Wellington, pp. xxvii–xxviii.</ref>

In 1862 Delacroix participated in the creation of the [[Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts]]. His friend, the writer [[Théophile Gautier]], became chairman, with the painter [[Aimé Millet]] acting as deputy chairman. In addition to Delacroix, the committee was composed of the painters [[Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse|Carrier-Belleuse]] and [[Puvis de Chavannes]]. Among the exhibitors were Léon Bonnat, [[Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux]], [[Charles-François Daubigny]], [[Gustave Doré]], and [[Édouard Manet]].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} Just after his death in 1863, the society organized a retrospective exhibition of 248 paintings and lithographs by Delacroix—and ceased to mount any further exhibitions.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

The winter of 1862–63 was extremely rough for Delacroix; he was suffering from a bad throat infection that seemed to get worse over the course of the season. On a trip to Champrosay, he met a friend on the train and became exhausted after having a conversation. On 1 June he returned to Paris to see his doctor. Two weeks later, on 16 June, he was getting better and returned to his house in the country. But by 15 July he was sick enough to again see his doctor, who said he could do nothing more for him. By then, the only food he could eat was fruit. Delacroix realized the seriousness of his condition and wrote his will, leaving a gift for each of his friends. For his trusted housekeeper, Jenny Le Guillou, he left enough money for her to live on while ordering everything in his studio to be sold. He also inserted a clause forbidding any representation of his features, "whether by a death-mask or by drawing or by photography. I forbid it, expressly."<ref name="Deslandres">{{cite book |last=Deslandres |first=Yvonne |author-link=Yvonne Deslandres |translator-last=Griffin |translator-first=Jonathan |year=1963 |title=Delacroix: A Pictorial Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/delacroixpictori00desl |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Viking Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/delacroixpictori00desl/page/126 126] |oclc=518099 |quote=He passed anxiously through the winter of 1862–63: the bad season was always dangerous to his vulnerable throat. On 26 May he met a friend in the train to Champrosay, and the conversation exhausted him ... On 1 June he decided to return to Paris to see his doctor ... On 16 June, as he seemed to be better, he went back to the country ... On 15 July he was at the end of his strength: he was brought back to Paris ... and was fed on fruit, the only food he could take. His doctors could do nothing ... Aware of his condition, he dictated his will ... forgetting none of his friends, he left to each of them something to remember him by, to Jenny enough to live on, and ordered all the contents of his studio to be sold. He also inserted a clause forbidding any representation of his features 'whether by a death-mask or by drawing or by photograph. I forbid it, expressly.'}}</ref> On 13 August, Delacroix died, with Jenny by his side.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.musee-delacroix.fr/en/museum-studio/eugene-delacroix-37/biography-140/biography-p.126 |title=Biography |publisher=Musée National Eugène Delacroix |language=en |access-date=24 April 2018}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was buried in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.

His house, formerly situated along the canal of the [[Marne (river)|Marne]], is now near the exit of the motorway leading from Paris to central Germany.