Botzaris Surprises the Turkish Camp and Falls Fatally Wounded

The sudden violence and confusion of a surprise attack is captured in this dazzling oil sketch by Eugène Delacroix. A thrilling demonstration of Delacroix’s energetic brushwork and phenomenal sense of color, the canvas captures the genius of a creative mind in the very process of translating an idea into visual form.

The scene depicts the daring overnight assault of 240 Greek freedom fighters on August 21–22, 1823 that overwhelmed 4,000 encamped Turkish soldiers and became a significant victory in the Greek War of Independence (1821–27) against the Ottoman Empire. However, the Greek leader, Marcos Botzaris, was mortally wounded during the struggle. Delacroix shows Botzaris in the center, dramatically falling while his comrades rush to him.

Botzaris’s heroic death became a rallying point for European support of the Greeks. As early as 1824 Delacroix expressed a desire to portray the event, but did not return to the subject until 1860. He made this preparatory study before working on a canvas more than six feet wide, left incomplete at his death.