Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe

Delacroix's Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe of 1823 takes its subject from Scott's Ivanhoe — the beautiful Jewish healer Rebecca tending the wounded knight — a scene that allowed Delacroix to combine medieval historical atmosphere, romantic emotion, and the sympathy for Jewish characters unusual in early nineteenth-century European painting. Scott's novel was a phenomenon in France as in England, and Delacroix returned to Ivanhoe subjects throughout his career, finding in medieval England both picturesque atmosphere and opportunities for exploring cultural and racial tension.

Delacroix uses a warm, intimate palette of reds and golds to create a rich interior atmosphere. The tender interplay between the two figures is rendered with expressive brushwork and careful attention to period costume and setting.