The Murder of the Bishop of Liège

Delacroix's The Murder of the Bishop of Liège of 1828 depicts a scene from Scott's Quentin Durward — the brutal assassination of Louis de Bourbon by William de la Marck — treating the medieval subject with the energetic violence characteristic of his Scott-derived paintings. Delacroix was a devoted reader of Scott, finding in the historical novels a combination of historical specificity, dramatic action, and psychological complexity that provided ideal pictorial material. The murder scene's torchlit darkness, the Bishop's desperate resistance, and the assassin's frenzied attack demonstrate Delacroix's mastery of nocturnal violence.

The chaotic banquet scene is rendered with dramatic chiaroscuro and a rich palette of deep reds and golds. Delacroix's energetic brushwork captures the violence and confusion of the ambush within the elaborate Gothic interior.