The Daughter of Jephthah

Back in Paris in 1859 after three years copying old masters in Italy, Degas took a studio and set about becoming a history painter, which was then the top of the profession and the way into the Salon. This was his first go at it and the largest canvas he ever painted, close to two metres high and three across. The story is from the book of Judges. Jephthah promises God that if he wins his battle he will sacrifice whatever comes out of his door to meet him, wins, and is met by his daughter. Degas was deep in Delacroix at the time, copying his colour, and it shows in the crowd and the landscape. He never brought the picture to a finish and never showed it publicly. It stayed in his studio until his death, and was sold off with everything else there in 1918.