Scene from Goethe's 'Götz' (Götz von Berlichingen Writing his Memoirs)
1836–63
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
H. 10-1/8 x W. 7-1/4 in.
Classification
Prints
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.615
Tags
Art Historical Context
Eugène Delacroix a leading figure of French Romanticism, created *Scene from Goethe's 'Götz' (Götz von Berlichingen Writing his Memoirs)* as a lithograph between 6 and 1863. This evocative print captures a dramatic moment from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's influential play *Götz von Beringen* (1773), inspired by the real-life 16th-century German knight replaced his severed right hand with an iron prosthesis. Delacroix depicts Götz, clad in armor, intently writing his memoirs amid figures of men and women, embodying the Romantic ideal of the heroic individual defying fate through intellect and r...
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...