La justice de Trajan

Eugène Delacroix painted La Justice de Trajan in 1840, depicting the legendary episode in which the Roman Emperor Trajan halted his army to hear the plea of a widow whose son had been killed. The subject, drawn from Dante's Purgatorio, celebrated imperial justice and mercy, and was a staple of academic history painting. Delacroix received the commission for the Rouen Palais de Justice, and the work demonstrates his ability to meet the demands of monumental official painting while maintaining the coloristic brilliance and dramatic energy that defined his Romantic style.

Delacroix composes the scene with processional grandeur, arranging the cavalry and supplicants across a broad horizontal format. The rich palette of reds, golds, and deep blues creates a tapestry-like effect, while the vigorous brushwork and dynamic poses of horses and figures generate the kinetic energy that distinguishes Delacroix's approach to history painting from the static compositions of the academic tradition.