During my visit to the Louvre, the art piece that caught my eye the most was Le Jeune Martyre by David Delaroche. As I was walking through one of the rooms, I had noticed a painting which was different from any other, where its colors were brilliant, and a humanly reflection. Le Jeune Martyre was painted in 1855, a year before Delaroche died. Some critics have described this painting as being “pathetic”, but I think the exact opposite.
Contrary to other paintings during its time, Le Jeune Martyre plays as a historic piece, and it is also a refection of humanism. Le Jeune Martyre reminds its viewer of the age of Rome around 3 A.D., and of what life was like back during the time of the rise of Catholicism. Even though Le Juene Martyre deals with religion it still is separate from the other religious depictions that artists had tried to stray away from during the age of discovery. Delaroche had painted Le Jeune Martyre, leaving the unreal folktale legends out of his painting, making it a realistic piece, pulling a piece of history out of the books and pasting it up on a piece of canvas. Delaroche had given it his human influence with just a glimmer of exaggeration, which is the ring of light that hovers above the dead girl’s head.
In the painting, a girl, the Martyre, lies dead in a bluish river, with her hands bound. Behind her, her killer rides away on his horse in the sunset. Delaroche’s clever use of colors is a representation of how far humanism has come. The colors in the dark sunset, and the mystical like river, are abrupt as a lunar eclipse. The combination of the dark, and almost bright colors give the painting its romantic feel, drawing its viewer into the painting, and instantly falling in love with the painting.
The painting is something that you would see in a Shakespeare play. This was my impression when I had first seen the painting. In fact, the painting has been referred to as “the Christian Ophelia”, because of its resemblance of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. This painting is an icon of the age of enlightenment as well.
The most compelling object in the painting is the girl. She is very young, light, pale, innocent looking, and looks to be at peace, even though her life had been taken viciously. Delaroche has painted her to look like an angel, or a Greek goddess. Her face is very similar to depictions of the Greek goddess, Persephone. Heightening the feel of the dead girls gracefulness is the mystical golden ring. This gives the painting it’s humanist touch, revealing the inner thoughts of human beings, making its viewers almost sad for what had been done to the girl.
Delaoroche may be the last of his kind. Although his style was not uncommon, his clever and innovative use of colors was almost unheard of. Today the work of many graphic designer’s work has been influenced by the similar thought of David Delaroche. His concrete realism, but feathered mysticism can be seen in many advertisement ads. The critics of Delaroche’s Le Jeune Martyre should perhaps give the painting a second look, and if they look at the painting more carefully, they may see more then just a contrast of colors.
