Massacre of scio is an oil on canvas painted by Eugène Delacroix in 1824.

It’s displayed at the Louvre.

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1963) is one of the most important romantic painter

in France. As Théodore Géricault, Ary Scheffer and Paul Huet, he was trained
in the workshop of Pierre Narcisse Guérin. His first painting presented at the
salon was The Barque of Dante, in 1822, which received great success.
Adolphe Tiers wrote about this work of art : « No canvas better reveals the
future of a great painter ».

Two years later, at the salon of 1824 , the Massacre of scio received also
critical acclaim. It was rewarded with the second class medal and was
acquired by the French State after the exhibition.

With this painting, Delacroix (1798-1963) takes part of the Philhellenism, or

the love of Greek culture. This movement was revived during the war of
independence waged by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire,
between 1821 and 1830. England, Russia and later France joined the
revolutionary movements. A lot of European intellectuals get involved in the
conflict, such as Lord Byron, who died in 1824 in Missolonghi, but also
French personalities and artists.

Indeed, Delacroix (1798-1963) chose to support this movement by showing

this 4 meters high painting at the salon of 1824. He represented the
massacre committed by the Turkish at chios in April 1822, where more than
20 000 greeks died and the survivors were enslaved, after an an attempted
revolt. At the foreground, fifteen figures are painted, the victims are lying or
sitting down and the persecutors are standing. On the right, an horserider (a
giaour) is kidnapping an half naked woman, painted from the favorite model
of Delacroix, Emilie Robert.

At the background, the massacre is represented in an arid nature, with

smoke coming from burnt houses.

Delacroix accentuates the slaughter and the tragedy of the scene by using
an audacious composition. There is no center in the image structure and the
skyline is high, overwhelming the characters. The painter chose to represent
the cruelty of the massacre and the enslavement, and not the battle or the
glorious victory. The restoration, made in 2019, showed, behind the
yellowing varnish, flamboyant colors, with luminous whites and vermilion,
emphasizing the truth of the figures. The touches of paint were juxtaposed :
the synthesis of the colors is made in the eyes of the viewer, and some art
historians qualify this way of painting as divisionist. However, everyone
agrees that this painting is one of the most important work of art of the
french Romanticism and distinguish itself obviously from classical paintings.

To conclude this presentation, I will read a quote from Theophile Gautier,

which put this painting in a nutshell, summarizes its importance « these
horrible scenes, this violent color and the brush fury aroused the indignation
of the classics, whose wigs trembled ; and filled young painters with
enthusiasm. »

Other paintings about the subject :