Botzaris Surprises the Turkish Camp and Falls Fatally Wounded

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Botzaris Surprises the Turkish Camp and Falls Fatally Wounded

Artist Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863)

Place of OriginFrance

Date1860-1862

DimensionsPainting: 25 5/8 × 28 3/4 in. (65.1 × 73 cm)
Frame: 32 3/4 × 37 3/4 × 3 3/4 in. (83.2 × 95.9 × 9.5 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, and with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1994.36

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 31

Label TextThe 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.Published ReferencesRobaut, A., L'oeuvre complet d'Eugène Delacroix, Paris, 1885, no. 1408, p. 378.

Serullaz, Mémorial de l'exposition Eugène Delacroix, Paris, 1963, no. 529 (illus. p. 408).

Huyghe, R., Delacroix, London, 1963, p. 521, no. 18.

Maltese, C., Delacroix, Milan, 1965, p. 178 (illus. pl. 98).

Sérullaz, M., Delacroix, New York, 1973, color ill. p. 167.

Huyghe, R., La peinture française au XIXe siècle. La relève de l'imaginiare, réalisme, romantisme, Paris, 1976, p. 304, (ill. pl. XXII).

Athanassoglou, N., "Under the Sign of Leonidas: the Political and Ideological Fortune of David's Leonidas at Thermopylae under the Restoration," Art Bulletin, LXIII, (December 1981), p. 631, no. 21.

Georgel, P., Tout l'oeuvre peint de Delacroix, Paris, 1984, no. 792, p. 132.

Johnson, L., The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix, Oxford, 1986, vol. III, no. 346, p. 159, ill. vol. IV, pl. 160.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 117, repr. (col.).

"Calendar," Burlington, vol. 138, no. 1115, Feb. 1996, fig. 101, p. 160.

"Principales acquistions des musées en 1995," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 127, no. 1526, Mar. 1996, repr. p. 72.

Rautmann, Peter, Delacroix, Paris, 1997, fig. 295, p. 304 (col.).

Eugène Delacroix, Paris, 1998, p. 13, fig. 12, p. 14 (col.) [special issue of Connaissance des Arts].

Delacroix: la naissance d'un nouveau romantisme, Rouen, 1998, p. 80, fig. 25, p. 81.

Southgate, M. Therese, "The Cover," JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 285, no. 4, Jan. 24/31, 2001, p. 375, repr. on cover (col.).

Berkowitz, Roger M., "Selected acquisitions made by the Toledo Museum of Art, 1990-2001," Burlington, vol. 143, no. 1177, April, 2001, p. 261, fig. XII (col.).

Taylor, Bradley L., "The effect of surrogation on viewer response to expressional qualities in works of art," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2001, p. 78, pl. A2, p. 171.

Sérullaz, Arlette and Vincent Pomarède, Eugène Delacroix: La Liberté Guidant le peuple, Paris Musée du Louvre, 2004, pp. 41, 69, n. 47, fig. 31 (col.).

Sellier, Marie, La peinture entrée libre, Paris, Editions Nathan, 2004, p. 49, repr. (col.).

Rosenberg, Pierre, Passion for drawing: Poussin to Cézanne, works from the Prat Collection, Alexandria, VA Art Services International, 2004, p. 21, fig. 2, p. 23.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 244, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryParis, Musée du Louvre, Centenaire du Romantisme, Exposition Eugène Delacroix, 1903, no. 181.

Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections parisiennes. Peintures et dessins de l'école française du XIXe siècle, 1952-1953, no. 35.

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Centenaire d'Eugène Delacroix, 1798-1863, 1963, no. 525.

Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais, Baudelaire, 1968-1969, no. 277.

New York, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Neo-Classicism and Romanticism in French Paintings, 1774-1826, 1994, pp. 164-167, no. 60, ill.

Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts; Paris, Musée National Eugene-Delacroix; Athens, Pinacothèque nationale, La Grèce en révolte: Delacroix et les peintres français 1815-1848 1996-97, no. 33, p. 130, repr. (col.).

Louvre, Paris, France. 1998-99.

Paris, Grand Palais; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Delacroix, les dernières années, no. 137, pp. 323-325, repr. (col.) [Eng. ed.] pp. 323-324, repr. (col.).