Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople

The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, commissioned for the Museum of the History of France at Versailles in 1840, depicts a dark episode of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Instead of liberating Jerusalem, the Crusaders, diverted by the Venetians, seized the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Delacroix does not choose the moment of heroic assault, but rather the more ambiguous moment of taking possession. Baldwin of Flanders advances on his steed, surrounded by his leaders, in the middle of a devastated city. The work captures that pivotal moment where triumph turns into a bitter meditation on the destruction of culture by brute force. Stylistic analysis reveals Delacroix's chromatic genius. Unlike the neoclassical school of David or Ingres, Delacroix prioritizes color over line. We observe here the use of simultaneous contrasts and colored reflections that foreshadow Impressionism. The light is dramatic, filtered by a sky heavy with humidity and smoke, typical of the Bosphorus climate. Baldwin's psychology is striking: his face does not express the joy of victory but a form of weariness or doubt. He seems almost to ignore the supplicants throwing themselves at his feet, highlighting the moral isolation of the conqueror. The historical context is marked by the renewal of interest in the Middle Ages under Louis-Philippe. However, Delacroix infuses a radical modernity through his treatment of suffering. In the foreground, the figures of old men and weeping women recall the victims of all wars. The explanation of the history is one of sacrilege: Christians plundering other Christians. This tragic dimension is reinforced by the Byzantine architecture collapsing in the background, symbolizing the end of a world. Delacroix uses broken tones—browns, ochres, and purples—to bind the protagonists to the surrounding chaos. Delacroix's technique is of a freedom of execution disconcerting for the time. The brushwork is broad, vibrant, sometimes left in an unfinished state to accentuate the effect of movement and disorder. The artist conducted numerous studies for costumes and harnesses, seeking historical truth while subordinating it to pure emotion. The spatial depth is immense, leading the eye from the carnal details of the foreground to the blue distances of the sea and mountains, creating a sense of infinity that amplifies the universal scope of the represented disaster.