(In the Louvre)
Painted in 1841 for the Gallery at Versailles, whence it was
subsequently removed to the Louvre, this large, dramatic composition
belongs to the period when Delacroix's palette, inspired from the first
by Rubens and Veronese, had assumed increased richness under the
influence of Eastern light and colour. It is significant of the lack
of appreciation shown to the master by his contemporaries, and even by
his supporters, that the commission was accompanied by the request that
the picture should not look like a Delacroix.
[Illustration: PLATE I.--THE ENTRY OF THE CRUSADERS INTO
CONSTANTINOPLE.]
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