(b. 1798, Charenton-Saint-Maurice, d. 1863, Paris)
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (detail)
1854-61
Oil and wax on plaster, 751 x 485 cm (whole painting)
Saint-Sulpice, Paris
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel has been read as a summary of Delacroix's life and work. Indeed the leitmotif of his career is the struggle - a spiritual combat - between his aspiration to classicism and his Romantic genius, between his admiration for Racine and his love of Shakespeare.
