Indian woman torn by a tiger
The picture " Indian woman, torn by a tiger " ( French indienne mordue par un tigre ) was painted in 1856 by Eugène Delacroix with oil on canvas and has the external dimensions 51 cm × 61 cm. It was acquired by the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in 1964 .
presentation
In the center of a small clearing is a black-haired woman with an actually European-looking complexion who is attacked by a tiger. One sees the small scene as if from a boat that is anchored on the represented lake near the shore. The woman wears a blue, dark dress and a deep red cloak that flows away from her shoulders. In the foreground you can see a small lake with a large reed bush (bottom right). In the lower left corner is a medium-sized, brown clay amphora, the content of which, water, is running out. It seems to belong to the woman. In the background, an earthy path leads away from the scene into an indefinable area. It could be the sea (it is blue) and the moon, but this cannot be considered, since the depicted scene is bright as day and clear shadows can be seen. On the right side of the path, an embankment with a few trees can be seen on an earth wall. You can only see the shady side of the trees. They therefore appear very dark. The tiger, which looks very long and has an extremely dark fur, has bitten into the woman's chest. His head is impossible to twist and its proportions are extremely unanatomical. The woman behaves just as unusually. She sinks tragically, surrendering to herself, throws both arms in the direction of the tiger's body and shows no strong expression of emotion on her face. Her lips don't look like they're screaming either.
analysis
The gaze is first directed towards the two main characters in the picture, ie the woman and the tiger, towards the center of the picture. If you draw a crosshair through the picture, which the painter did not use when painting, the woman can be seen exactly between the two left parts. The tiger grazes all quarters with his body. The rest of the picture was clearly not composed according to a geometric template. Straight lines are absolutely not decisive in this picture. What is more important is the downward opening parabola that borders the lake and the oval that surrounds the woman and the tiger. Otherwise, there are predominantly curved, stressed uneasy lines to be found.
The picture is divided into several shadow and light areas. The end of the way is in the light. The trees on the mound are a large area of shadow, making the woman and the tiger more visible. The lake is in the shade again, as are the reeds. The whole picture is determined by a brown color, so the surfaces merge into one another without too hard transitions. The strongest contrasts are provided by the woman's clothing.
Overall, the picture is restless, as can already be seen from the title, which is additionally emphasized by the slightly “smeared” paint application.
The picture with its exotic motif was inspired by a trip that Delacroix took to Morocco, Algeria and Spain in 1832.
Web links
- Indiane mordue par un tigre, 1856 , Staatsgalerie Stuttgart