Joseph Odevaere

A student of Joseph Benoît Suvée and Jacques Louis David, the Belgian artist Odevaere was renowned for the meticulous draughtsmanship and theatrical compositions of his works. The present work is a réplique of a composition Odevaere first painted in 1826. The latter was a work of great significance for the artist as an illustration of a dramatic recent event, proved by its inclusion in the Paris Salon of 1827 (no. 770, as Les derniers défenseurs de Messolonghi préférant la mort à la servitude), and is currently housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The Siege of Messolonghi, along with the Massacre at Chios, were two of the major events of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829). During the Orlov Revolt in 1770, Messolonghi, in central Greece, was defeated and was ceded to the Ottoman forces. On 20 May 1821, Messolonghi revolted against its captors and became a major stronghold of the Greek rebels. After resisting two Ottoman sieges in 1822 and 1825, the inhabitants left the beleaguered city in the 'Exodus of its Guards' on the night of 10 April 1826. After their plan was betrayed, most of the 10,500 Greeks from the city were killed by the Ottoman forces under Ibrahim Pasha.

The present work depicts the moment before the firing of the powder magazines, as brave insurgents from Messolonghi await their fate with varying emotions surpassed by an unwavering faith in God. The Greek martyrs cluster around the senior cleric of the town, Bishop Joseph, as he prays before firing a pistol into the gunpowder-filled barrels; many of those too old and weak to escape the besieged Messolonghi were assembled in four or five houses with a powder store, to be blown up on the approach of the Ottoman forces.

The Greek efforts in Messolonghi to overcome the Turkish occupying forces received widespread support across Europe. Poet and ardent philhellene, Lord Byron, died there in 1824 (an event captured by Odevaere in his Death of Byron), his death commemorated in the city by a memorial. Due to the heroism of the population of Messolonghi and the subsequent massacre, the town received the unique and honorary title of Hiera Polis (the 'Sacred City').