Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi [SEP] creator
Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi
Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi () is an 1826 oil painting by French painter Eugène Delacroix, and now preserved at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. This painting was inspired by the Third Siege of Missolonghi by the Ottoman forces in 1826, during which many people of the city after the long-time siege (almost a year) decided to attempt a mass breakout ("sortie") to escape famine and epidemics. The attempt resulted in a disaster, with the
Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi" (1827). The siege of Missolonghi also inspired Gioacchino Rossini's opera "Le siège de Corinthe".
This public sympathy for the Greeks had a significant influence on the eventual decision of Britain, France and Russia to intervene militarily in the Battle of Navarino and secure Greece's independence - with the result that, among other things, within four years Missolonghi fell into Greek hands again.
The unfinished poem "The Free Besieged" by Dionysios Solomos is dedicated to the siege