Link to the Painting: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010066492
An Analysis of Paul Delaroche’s Works
Paul Delaroche was one of France’s most renowned painters – known specifically for his historically accurate depictions of scenes within French and English history. Focusing mainly on the ‘Romantic’ style of painting, his works often feature melodrama and intense realism, setting his pieces out from the rest because of this painstaking attention to detail.
When I first discovered Paul Delaroche was studying the Romantic period in art – my fascination with the style resulted in my being drawn to the glorified paintings depicting martyrdom and sensuous drama in each stroke. I felt immediately transported to the location of each painting when viewing them, not knowing when reality ended and the painting because of each detail down the individual hair being so visible through the canvas in each piece. For example, in The Young Martyr, Delaroche communicates the tranquility yet drama of the death of this girl while preserving the accuracy with which her garments would collect in the water surrounding her.
La Jeune Martyre
While mostly known for his painting depicting the Death of Queen Elizabeth, Delaroche’s second most famous piece is La Jeune Martyre – a soft yet jarring rendition of the martyrdom of an unnamed Christian girl. Each examination of the painting reveals more and more details of the painting which weren’t visible before – including the lifelike nature of an obviously dead subject, surrounded in holiness with the halo hovering above her head, she is meant to be inspired by the story of a young Christian girl who was martyred during the Roman Empire.
An In-Depth Analysis
La Jeune Martyre is often compared to Shakespeare’s Ophelia because of the way in which she is painted in water, however, one important thing to note is the grace and tranquility that surrounds the girl in Delaroche’s painting versus the madness and rage which Ophelia was described to have in Hamlet. Another important note in this painting is that the girl is the only source of light in the painting – the halo supplying the majority of it – it implies the purity and holiness of the woman, with the grief that comes with death darkening the rest of the painting. This is solidified by the presence in the left of the painting – horrified and grief-stricken figures – watching the girl.
What drew me the most to this piece, however, was how harsh the halo’s light was in respect to the rest of the painting. While all the strokes in the painting are soft and muted, the halo comes off as sharp and harsh, drawing the eye to it immediately both as a stylistic difference but also as the source of light in the painting. I think it emphasized the religious motivation behind the painting and subtly calls to attention the innocence of her face against the dark situation and surroundings.
Unfortunately, the piece was painted only a year before the death of Delaroche, meaning he was not able to see how his piece was interpreted, however, it is to this day hailed as one of his most famous and jarring works – both historically and emotionally.
La Jeune Martyre is currently available for public viewership at the Louvre.