Studies of saddles and two heads of soldiers wearing helmets; Study of a saddle

In 1832, Delacroix spent five months in Morocco with Comte Charles de Mornay, the head of a diplomatic mission charged with clarifying the borders between Algeria and Morocco. This seminal trip in his artistic career left a lasting impression on Delacroix, and he brought back a large number of drawings, including these studies. Another sheet, now in the Louvre, shows the same type of harness studies with saddles and stirrups: each sketch, sometimes with watercolor, is annotated with indications of color and material. It was probably drawn during his stay in the capital Meknès between 15 March and 5 April 1832 (inv. RF10088; M. Sérullaz, et al., Dessins d’Eugène Delacroix 1798-1863, Paris, 1984, no. 1656), as were the present studies. The watercolour Etude de mule harnachée in the Louvre is also an apt comparison (inv. RF 9289; Delacroix. Objets dans la peinture, souvenir du Maroc, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée Eugène Delacroix, 2015, no. 24, ill.).