Eugene Delacroix’s famous painting, Orphan Girl at the Cemetery, depicts a young girl standing amidst gravestones. This oil on canvas piece measures 66 x 54 cm in size and is situated at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The artwork was painted by Delacroix in 1824 and is believed to have been a preparatory work for his major historic artwork, The Massacre at Chios. Being one of his earliest masterpieces, this painting depicts a young girl bowing down near an empty grave with tearful eyes directed upward.
Delacroix’s love for Rubens and the Venetians as artists reflects well in this painting as he used color as an important ingredient. Hues of brown, grey, blue are prominent throughout the painting while small hints of white grace her clothes. The mood created through careful brushstrokes is intense yet captivatingly emotional – it evokes feelings of lost youth, fear and coiled energy among audiences.
Orphan Girl at the Cemetery was shown at Salon of 1824 where it garnered much praise from critics due to its unique depiction of sadness through color symbolism. Today, it remains an essential artwork that signifies both painterly skills and emotional depth which attracts visitors from all over the world to witness this masterpiece firsthand.