The Giaour on Horseback (recto); Study of a Woman with Head and Arms Thrown Back, and Study of the Head of an Old Man (verso).

Description

The Giaour on Horseback gallops forward with a curved weapon in Eugène Delacroix’s drawing. Flowing clothing, raised arms and the horse’s active legs give the scene a forceful common direction. The literary subject acquires immediacy through the meeting of rider and animal, allowing bodily movement to carry the encounter beyond a merely descriptive identification.

Made in 1824–26, the drawing uses pen and iron gall ink with wash over graphite. The museum records other figure studies on the reverse, distinguishing the Giaour on the front from the woman’s pose and an old man’s head on the other side. The sheet’s multiple subjects reveal its working character. Delacroix allows literary invention and separate observations to coexist within one object, preserving a closer encounter with artistic thought in motion.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Eugène Delacroix collection.