Eugene Delacroix's The Massacre at Chios (1824) and Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826)

Soundtrack/music by IONIAN NK
1. Massacre at Chios (1824)
Delacroix depicts the roundup of Greek captives for slaughter or enslavement by Ottoman Turks. The painting was inspired by the brutal events that occurred on the island of Chios during the Greek War of Independence. It is estimated that tens of thousands of Greek males, females and children were murdered or enslaved.
2. Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826)
Delacroix depicts an ancient Greek female representing the people of Greece, ancient and contemporary, clothed with garments and with a pose that resembles that of the Virgin Mary. The painting was produced to gain sympathy and support in Western Europe for the Greeks who were suffering under Ottoman Turkish rule and to assist them in their struggle for independence. The Third Siege of Missolonghi by Ottoman Turks and their Egyptian allies in 1826 resulted in catastrophe for the Greeks when they attempted to escape disease and hunger after a long siege of the city. The majority of the population was slain.
Delacroix was outraged by the atrocities committed by the Ottomans and the enslavement of Greeks and envisioned a free Greece as did many European artists of his time.