A standing Moroccan

One of a series of drawings studying Moroccan costume, probably the fruits of Delacroix's visit to Morocco in the winter of 1832 as part of a diplomatic mission to the sultan. A line-drawing of the same model in the same pose is in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (M. Arama, Le Maroc de Delacroix, Paris, 1987, pp. 29, 216). Delacroix travelled to Morocco in the winter of 1832 as official artist to the French diplomatic mission visiting the sultan. In 1830, the French had occupied neighboring Algeria and were keen to reassure Moulay Abd er Rahman of their friendly intentions towards his country. Encountering the Arab world with passionate and vivid interest, Delacroix felt, at the same time, the region's direct contact with antiquity. In the present study, the artists discerns the inherent nobility of the Moroccan's stance, giving a classical perfection to his upright bearing