Baron Schwiter (Louis Auguste Schwiter, 1805–1889)
1826
Medium
Lithograph; only state
Dimensions
Image: 8 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (21.9 x 20 cm) Sheet: 11 5/8 x 8 3/4 in. (29.6 x 22.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Derald H. and Janet Ruttenberg Gift and The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1983
Accession Number
1983.1170
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1826, Eugène Del, the fiery pioneer of French Romanticism, captured the youthful Baron Louis Auguste Schwiter (1805–1889) in this striking lithograph. At just 21, the Swiss-born nobleman gazes directly at the viewer with an air of quiet intensity, his features rendered in Delacroix's bold, fluid style. Produced as the only state—meaning no subsequent editions or alterations—this intimate portrait exemplifies the artist's early mastery of lithography, a revolutionary printing technique that allowed for painterly effects akin to drawing with grease crayon on stone. Lithography, invented in t...
About the Artist
Eugène Delacroix · 1798–1863
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) stands as the defining figure of French Romanticism and a pivotal bridge to modernism. Born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice near Paris, he came from distinguished lineage—his mother descended from the prestigious Oeben-Riesener furniture dynasty, while persistent speculation suggested the statesman Talleyrand may have been his biological father, a theory supported by physic...