| Artist | Eugène Delacroix |
|---|---|
| Year | 1840 |
| Type | Oil painting |
| Dimensions | 498 cm × 410 cm (196 in × 160 in) |
| Location | Louvre, Paris |
The Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople (Entrée des Croisés à Constantinople) is a large painting by Eugène Delacroix. It was commissioned by Louis-Philippe in 1838, and completed in 1840. Painted in oil on canvas, it is in the collection of the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
Delacroix's painting depicts a famous episode of the Fourth Crusade (12 April 1204), in which the Crusaders were diverted to Constantinople, which was under siege. The painting shows Baldwin I of Constantinople at the head of a procession through the streets of the city following the assault; on all sides are the city's inhabitants who beg for mercy.[1]
The painting's luminosity and use of colour owes much to Delacroix's study of the Old Masters, such as Paolo Veronese.[1] The painting was exhibited in the Salon of 1841, where the painterly romanticism of its style was controversial; Le Constitutionnel deplored "the confused and strangled composition, the dull earthy colours and the lack of definite contours", but Baudelaire appreciated the work's "abstraction faite".[1]
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