'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand' by Delacroix

'Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand' by Delacroix

The painting shown above by Eugène Delacroix from 1838 doesn't exist as such. It's a reconstruction. It was originally intended as a double portrait of Chopin and Sand, but it was unfinished and, after Delacroix's death, it was cut in half and the two portraits were cropped - especially Chopin - and then sold off separately.

The Louvre

In the original sketches, Chopin is playing the piano. Sand is sitting near him, listening and sewing.

Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen

Below is a Delacroix portrait of Sand dressed in men's clothes from a few years earlier:

Musée du Louvre. Photo: Philippe Fuzeau