The Death of Sardanapalus
Eugene Delacroix
Circa 1828
Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris, France
I put this painting before you because the message and meaning behind it is perhaps the most relevant historical metaphor for our current President.
The tale of Sardanapalus, the last king of Babylon: his fabled last days and death are a stark mirroring of the decadent narcissism of President George W. Bush and his Administration.
The fable goes as so: The last king lived a life of opulence and luxury until his kingdom was seiged by the Assyrians. He confined himself inside his court and for two years, he gorged himself with the luxuries present as the subjects of his kingdom withered and fell.
Rather than lift a finger in defense of any single person other than himself, the tale tells us that Sardanapalus, in the end, set fire to his court and watched it all turn to ashes until he was at last consumed.
Eugene Delacroix, inspired by the Lord Byron version of the story, composed the painting below around 1828. His composition is a harsh story of the king, who lazily reclines as his besieged court is raped and plundered.
The message I get whenever I see this masterpiece is an omnipotent glimpse of the echelon of man’s potential decadence if left unchecked by his or her fellow human beings. Further, revisiting this painting in our current political situation serves to further emulate my mind’s eye’s measurement of the depth of our current President’s depravity. As with the fabled king, it is clear that our President would convert our nation to ashes rather than raise a single finger to serve it before himself. He would subject his nation’s treasure to endless pain and death in the place of kneeling before it in modest confession.
Note Delacroix’s conjuring of the distained poise of Sardanapalus and the deliberate placement of the king's right leg, as if pulling away from the suffering woman who had knelt before him and presented to him, her death. It is the most violent and tragic Romantic painting I have ever seen; yet its message is powerful and clear without the representation of a single drop of blood.
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