Attributed to Eugène Delacroix (Saint Maurice 1798 - 1863 Paris)

This vigorous and emotionally charged drawing belongs to the great tradition of French Romanticism of the 1820s. The composition, which lacks a central focal point, depicts a melee between Greek and Ottoman fighters, rendered in a tumult of gestures, drapery, and glances. It captures the desperate violence of the Greek War of Independence with a dramatic energy characteristic of Eugène Delacroix or his immediate circle. The quick pencil work and bold brown wash lend the scene a raw immediacy and visual dynamism.

Delacroix, the leading figure of French Romantic painting, was deeply moved by the Greek struggle for independence. He created some of the most iconic images of philhellenic sentiment, such as The Massacre at Chios (1824) and Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826), which abandoned classical heroism in favor of collective tragedy. This drawing, likely from the same period, shares that vision: there is no individual hero, but rather an entire people engulfed in turmoil.

The style—rapid, expressive pencil strokes enhanced with dramatic brown wash—bears a strong resemblance to known Delacroix sketches, including several Battle Scenes between Greeks and Turks housed at the Louvre. The so-called “spiral composition” is a hallmark of Delacroix’s work: a structure without hierarchy, drawing the viewer into the chaos of the moment. The overlapping figures and whirling movement reflect a controlled disorder typical of his hand.

The provenance further supports this attribution: Pierre-Olivier Dubaut, a knowledgeable collector with a deep passion for the French Romantics, owned numerous works by Delacroix and his contemporaries. His collector’s stamp, seen at the lower right, not only adds historical interest but also strengthens the case for the artwork’s link to Delacroix. Several pieces from his collection have since been convincingly reattributed to major Romantic artists.

In an artistic context where philhellenism nourished the Romantic imagination, this drawing stands out as a rare and compelling witness. Whether definitively by Delacroix or by a close associate, the work embodies the new Romantic aesthetic, in which collective pathos replaces individual triumph and the artist’s pen becomes a cry—an act of protest as much as homage.