Eugène Delacroix moved to rue de Furstenberg on December 28, 1857, abandoning the studio on rue Notre-Damede-Lorette, as it was too far from the Saint-Sulpice church, which he had been commissioned to decorate in 1847. Seriously ill, the artist wanted to finish his work at any cost, but he was no longer able to make a long journey every day. So he was happy to find, through his friend the color merchant and painting restorer Etienne Haro, a quiet and airy accommodation, relatively close to Saint-Sulpice. Once installed, Delacroix often expressed in his journal and in letters his contentment about his new residence: "My home is decidedly charming [...] The sight of my little garden and the laughing aspect of my studio always give me a feeling of pleasure." Eugene Delacroix lived in this apartment until his death on August 13, 1863. After his death, various tenants occupied the place until the question of whether or not to destroy the workshop arose. It was then that some painters and historians--including Maurice Denis, Paul Signac, André Joubin, Raymond Escholier, and Dr. Viau--had the idea to form the Society of Friends of Eugène Delacroix and prevent this sacrilegious destruction. In 1971, his former residence became a national museum that houses works that span Delacroix's career--including paintings, drawings, engravings, correspondence, travel artifacts from Morocco, and souvenirs from his private life.
