In the context of this artwork, discuss the Relation to Delacroix of the Analysis.
Art historians have observed that Cézanne struggled to live up to Delacroix's reputation, and his adoration for his predecessor became almost humiliating. Curators Christopher Riopelle and Françoise Cachin have proposed that The Eternal Feminine may be an attempt to reinterpret Delacroix's The Death of Sardanapalus (1827).Delacroix's painting shows Sardanapalus in his palace reclining on his bed after ordering his family and animals to be killed. The preparatory drawing for The Eternal Feminine shows that Cézanne initially arranged the composition in the same structure as Delacroix's painting. Significantly, however, Cézanne's painting inverts the gender roles of Sardanapalus.  The female figure replaces Sardanapalus, while male figures take the place occupied by the victims. In the final version of the Eternal Feminine, the woman can be seen as a kind of ruler, controlling her subjects' attention.
Françoise Cachin The Death of Sardanapalus Cézanne