The Sister of Duguesclin

Eugène Delacroix

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is one of two illustrations that Delacroix supplied for Chroniques de France, tales of chivalry by Mme Amable Tastu (Paris, 1829). Julienne, a sister of the noble warrior Bertrand Duguesclin, is responsible for the castle of Pontorson during her brother's absence. Sword and torch in hand, she attacks two English soldiers who have treacherously entered the castle through the complicity of the maid, Alix, who swoons at the right.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art