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Lot Essay
The subject of this picture is taken from Lord Byron's poem The Giaour, a fragment of a Turkish Tale, published in 1813. This poem, set in 17th century Greece, tells the tale of a proud Venetian warrior, known only by the perjorative nickname, Giaour, which the Turks gave to non-Muslims, particularly Christians. He sets out to avenge the death of his mistress, Leila, at the hands of her Turkish captor, Hassan. The two men meet in single combat and Delacroix here portrays the scene where the victorious Giaour 'now array'd in Arnaut garb', contemplates his enemy's dead body.
His breast with wounds unnumber'd driven,
His back to earth, his face to heaven
Fall'n Hassan lies - his unclos'd eye
Yet lowering on his enemy,
As if the hour that sealed his fate,
Surviving left his quenchless hate;
And o'er him bends that foe with brow
As dark as his that bled below.
(lines 667-674)
Although Delacroix was not the first French artist to illustrate scenes from Byron's poetry (both Horace Vernet and Géricault had done so as early as 1819), it was Delacroix who returned most frequently to Byron for his inspiration. We know that he had read The Giaour, probably in Amedée Pichot's translation, as early as 1824, from an entry in his Journal for that year, dated 11 May, where he praises the work, commenting that he could imagine several episodes from the poem as suitable subjects for paintings; 'Je sens ces choses-là comme la peinture les comporte'.
Scenes from The Giaour form the subject of a number of important works by Delacroix, the earliest of which dates from 1826, The combat of the Giaour and Hassan (fig. 1), in the Art Institute of Chicago. Later works inspired by the poem include another version of the combat, dated to 1835, in the Petit Palais, Paris, and The Giaour's confession, dated to 1838, in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
His breast with wounds unnumber'd driven,
His back to earth, his face to heaven
Fall'n Hassan lies - his unclos'd eye
Yet lowering on his enemy,
As if the hour that sealed his fate,
Surviving left his quenchless hate;
And o'er him bends that foe with brow
As dark as his that bled below.
(lines 667-674)
Although Delacroix was not the first French artist to illustrate scenes from Byron's poetry (both Horace Vernet and Géricault had done so as early as 1819), it was Delacroix who returned most frequently to Byron for his inspiration. We know that he had read The Giaour, probably in Amedée Pichot's translation, as early as 1824, from an entry in his Journal for that year, dated 11 May, where he praises the work, commenting that he could imagine several episodes from the poem as suitable subjects for paintings; 'Je sens ces choses-là comme la peinture les comporte'.
Scenes from The Giaour form the subject of a number of important works by Delacroix, the earliest of which dates from 1826, The combat of the Giaour and Hassan (fig. 1), in the Art Institute of Chicago. Later works inspired by the poem include another version of the combat, dated to 1835, in the Petit Palais, Paris, and The Giaour's confession, dated to 1838, in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.