The Massacre at Chios - How Eugene Delacroix remastered a six month work in 15 days

French painter Eugene Delacroix was one of the brightest examples of the French Romanticism movement. His painting Liberty Leading the People is one of the most remarkable revolutionary-themed paintings in history. Inspired by the Flemish Baroque and Venetian Renaissance painters, Delacroix was known for his depictions of powerful, dramatic scenes that occasionally involved mythologic and historical events.

The Massacre at Chios is a large (419 cm × 354 cm) painting. It had its own interesting story of creation that started in 1823, a year after the actual events of this massacre happened in Greece. It took the lives of more than 40 000 people.

Eugene Delacroix was spending days in the grey and cold Paris that was torn by several bloody revolutions and changes of regime. He had an acquaintance, mister August — a fellow painter who returned from a journey from Syria, Egypt, and Greece. He brought a lot of things back to France — weapons, traditional clothing, dishes, carpets, and watercolors. Listening to the stories of his companion, Delacroix had a feeling that the Oriental world is the place where everything has been painted in bright colors.

The Massacre at Chios (1824) by Eugene Delacroix. Oil on canvas, 419 cm × 354 cm.

The same when Delacroix got fascinated by the Oriental journey his acquaintance had, Parisian newspapers had Greek awakening on its headlines. In 1821, the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire saw its rise. The population of the Chios island did not take part in the revolution, but they still showed their support for the idea of independent Greece. Such a decision was violently punished by the Ottomans. Thousands of people on the Chios island were killed, and many were sold into slavery. Some managed to escape from the island, but the few who stayed alive were converted to Islam.

This tragic story caught the attention of Delacroix, and he felt a strong desire to depict it in his next painting. He wandered around the streets of Paris, looking for the people who might be the characters of this composition. Delacroix had a challenge. He wanted to create a colorful depiction of all the horrors that happened on Chios island but with a touch of his own emotions caused by this story. French painter was keen to find a new artistic language. Delacroix had some success with his first painting, The Barque of Dante, but he was still far away from the eventual fame his later works would bring.

When his work was done and presented in Paris Salon, art critics felt confused: “This all is very touching, and you can feel the emotions. But why, when I come closer to this painting, I cannot understand a thing? Why did he not finish his highly expressive painting?” Critics felt that Delacroix’s work lacked the bright colors he displayed in The Barque of Dante. However, this was the point. Delacroix found his way to express his emotions.

Two weeks before the opening of the Salon, the featured artists had a chance to take a look at the exhibition behind closed doors. Delacroix was still unsure about the outcome of his six-month-long work. He saw the paintings of John Constable that featured clear and bright colors, as well as a detailed depiction of the smallest details, such as grass, leaves, and other features of nature. It was not something he wanted to represent in his works. Delacroix looked for his own visual language.

The young artist convinced the judges to give him two more weeks to take the painting back to the studio and rework it. They were not excited about such an initiative, but Delacroix got approval for his request, and for the next two weeks, he worked day and night to present the world version of The Massacre at Chios everyone can see now. He did monumental work in such a short term, but the reactions after its presentation at the Salon were mixed.

For Delacroix, this was a breakthrough work. Not just in terms of the hot political topic it depicted or the fame it got. French painter found the style that made him the leading artist of French Romanticism. The depiction of emotion remained the key attribute of Delacroix’s works. It led to the creation of Liberty Leading the People in 1830 and several others, memorable artworks. A rushed, two-week-long work had a great impact on the development of Delacroix’s style and artistic career.

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