Matisse 500-piece puzzle: The Sadness of the King

The Sorrows of the King (original title: Die Traurigkeit des Königs or The Sorrows of the King ) is a work created by Henri Matisse in 1952 , in the last years of his life, when already seriously ill he began to work with the revolutionary technique of decoupage – cut-outs of colored paper glued onto canvas.
With significant dimensions (approximately 292 × 386 cm ), the work is considered his last great self-portrait: in the centre emerges a black shape representing the king, or rather the artist himself, surrounded by stylised figures, plant motifs and coloured arabesques.
The predominant colors— intense blue , yellow , and green , with black inserts—create a strong visual contrast, evoking not only a sense of melancholy but also of inner vitality. The dynamic, fluid forms seem to dance around the melancholic king, evoking music, memory, and introspection.
The work reflects profound themes: a meditation on old age, memory, and music as consolation—it is often compared to the emotional tones of Rembrandt’s painting David Playing the Harp Before Saul and to Baudelaire’s poem La vie antérieure , previously illustrated by Matisse himself.
Currently exhibited at the Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou in Paris, it is recognized as an aesthetic point of arrival in Matisse’s career: a masterpiece emblematic of his final phase, in which art becomes a synthesis of form, color and emotion .