The joy of Delacroix

He initially made copies of prints by Rembrandt van Rijn and Francisco Goya, the great painters who inspired him enormously. Later, he made prints to reach a wider audience and to pay tribute to the writers he appreciated.

"I don't know of any artist who illustrated the work of so many writers, from the Greeks to Dante to Shakespeare and (John) Milton to (Lord) Byron and (Walter) Scott," Stone says of Delacroix's prints.

Delacroix created the Faust prints after seeing a performance of the play in London in 1825. They were published between 1826 and 1827. Goethe was still alive and saw the works.

"He (Goethe) was greatly impressed by them," Stone says. "He said to his secretary, (Johann Peter) Eckermann, 'How much more strongly the readers will find all alive and superior to what they were imagining!'"

Stone adds the Faust prints also set the first example of a major artist illustrating a major work of literature, a "livred' artiste (artist's book)".