Battle scene from the Greek War of Independence, 1827

The painting depicts an idealized battle, supposedly fought near the ruins of the temple of zeus and around the acropolis of athens. The equestrian leader of the greeks (left to center) looks like georgios karaiskakis (center). At the time (1825-1828), greece was invaded by a tri-continental ottoman army that included troops from asia, africa and europe – hence the symbolic depiction of a camel (right) in the retreating ottoman troops (center to right). Original title: kampfszene (scène de bataille - battle scene). Date: 1827.