“The Death of Sardanapalus” painting is in the moment, anticlassical style, unlike “The Death of Socrates” which seems to be as if everyone what posed for a photo that was about to be taken, classical style. “The Death of Sardanapalus by Eugene Delacroix was inspired by the dramatic poem by Lord Byron in 1821” (“Death of Sardanapalus Art Work Analysis”). Sardanapalus is “the last king of the second Assyrian dynasty at the end of the ninth century” (pg. 63). The soldiers in the painting are enemies of the king that have come to kill him. He is laying in his elephant post bed as the soldiers breach the room and storm in on their horses. The soldiers were ordered to destroy everything that belong to Sardanapalus so when everything is done nothing is left of his when he dies. Women are on the bed and floor, servants are in the room, along with all of Sardanapalus treasures that will be destroyed by the soldiers. “The Death of Sardanapalus” is a painting that is very fast paced and was painted as if the scene was taking place in front of Eugene …show more content…
In contrast the Romanticism style is anticlassical. “Romanticism provided a compliment to the factual, objective, logical, and rational thinking embodied in growing science and industry” (Notes) and the Enlightenment provided a complement too. The enlightenment was “an 18th century attitude which promoted scientific inquiry and sought to evaluate nearly every human action, including philosophy, art, and politics” (Notes). The Romantic disliked the Neoclassical style because it offered no freedom of thought or creativity. The Romantic style was based more on emotion then reason like the Neoclassical style. Now we start to see the difference between Neoclassicism and Romanticism one is objective and the other is reason. Eugene Delacroix was a Romantic style artist and his painting “The Death of Sardanapalus” is an example of the Romantic style. Delacroix struggled with The Academy style because of the lack freedom and emotions so he helped pave a new road for a new art style. As seen in his painting “The Death of Sardanapalus” the movement is quick and flows like water. In this painting we see the freedom of personalization, in contrast to David who is following specific guidelines set by the Neoclassical