Madonna By The Water: Mother And Child, Circle Of Eugene Delacroix

There is no need to be religious to appreciate the quality of composition and execution of this painting from the French "Romantic School" movement! This wonderful depiction of a "Maternit", or Madonna and child, very much in the spirt of Eugne Delacoix - and as such, startlingly modern for its time. Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modelled form.

Delacroix was also inspired by Lord Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the "forces of the sublime", of nature in often violent action. In the present painting, this is represented by the turbulent sea and the brooding sky, in delicious juxtaposition with the pale and gentle virgin and her child. Dating from circa 1850-60, our oil on canvas measures 41 x 33 cm. It is signed by the artist with his first name and initial only "Louis B", and I have not yet been able to identify the artist. The canvas bears on the verso the stamp of a Parisian colour merchant. In a more recent frame, the overall size is 51 x 44 cm.