Eugene Delacroix was born in Charenton St. Maurice near Paris on April 26, 1798. His mother came from a family of artists and royal cabinet makers. His father was a lawyer who had been active in the Revolution and was at the time ambassador from the French Directory to Holland. He received his first instruction in the Lycee Imperial, where his was a thoroughly classical education. He was thoroughly trained at home in the manners of diplomacy and high society.

At an early age Delacroix became a lover of music and literature and had been drawing from the time he entered school. He expected painting would be a hobby, but on the death of his father he found he had to make his own way in life. In 1817 he entered the studio of Pierre-Narcisse Guerin; amongst his fellow pupils was Gericault. His first exhibited work was 'Dante and Virgil' in 1822 in the Salon. It was a tortured scene of hell and was viciously attacked by some of the critics, but the government of France bought it anyway.

Compared with other artists, his travels were offbeat. He made no pilgrimage to Greece or Rome; instead he went to England, where he fell under the spell of the landscapists, notably Constable. In 1831 he visited Spain, Morocco and Algiers; several important works were a result of this journey. In 1832, through influence of Thiers, received his first public commission. From 1832 to 1855 he executed decorative works for the Chamber of Deputies, Library of Luxembourg, Galerie d'Apollon in the Louvre, Salon de la Paix in the Hotel de Ville, and church of St. Sulpice. Delacroix was elected to the Academy in 1857 and last exhibited at the Salon in 1859. He died in Paris in 1863.