Lithograph, 1829-30. 325x465 mm; 12 7/8x18 3/8 inches, full margins. An intermediate state between the second and third state (of 5), with the title lower center but before text. A superb, richly-inked and dark impression of this scarce, important, early 19th-century lithograph, with all the subtle tonal qualities distinct.
Beyond accomplishing success as a painter from his early career onward (his first major work, The Barque of Dante, was accepted by the Paris Salon in 1822 and immediately purchased by the French State for the Luxembourg Galleries, Paris), Delacroix was widely recognized for his lithography and etchings, and was among the earliest artists to use lithography (developed in the late 1790s) for the purpose of producing original works of fine art. He produced 25 etchings and more than 100 lithographs from 1814 to the early 1850s. Delteil 80.
