The Death of Sardanapalus

 Based on a dramatic poem by Lord Byron (1821)

Sardanapalus was the last king of Assyria, who, upon hearing that his enemies were closing in, chose to destroy all his possessions, women, and slaves, then commit suicide on a funeral pyre.

Based on a dramatic poem by Lord Byron (1821)

Sardanapalus was the last king of Assyria, who, upon hearing that his enemies were closing in, chose to destroy all his possessions, women, and slaves, then commit suicide on a funeral pyre.

Delacroix portrays not the death itself, but the chaotic, violent moments leading up to it — the king calmly reclines on a bed while his concubines are murdered, and his treasures destroyed.

                                                                       Louvre, Paris

Snapshot