Marguerite at the Fountain (1852)

Ary Scheffer: Marguerite at the Fountain

Charlemagne Receives the Submission of Witikind (1840)

Ary Scheffer: Charlemagne Receives the Submission 

of Witikind, King of the Saxons, at Paderborn in 785

Not much is known about Witikind, who is only remembered at all because he fought against the more famous Charlemagne (more famous because he won, I suppose).

Les Femmes Souliotes (1827)

Ary Scheffer: Les Femmes Souliotes

In December of 1803, the Souliotes began evacuating Souli after their defeat by Ali Pasha's forces. During the evacuation, a small group of Souliot women and their children were trapped by Ottoman troops in the mountains of Zalongo in Epirus. In order to avoid capture and enslavement, the women threw first their children and then themselves off a steep cliff, committing suicide. They did this while singing and dancing the syrtos, jumping down the precipice one after the other. The incident soon became known in Europe. At the Salon of 1827, a French artist named Ary Scheffer exhibited two Romantic paintings, one of which was entitled Les Femme souliotes ("The Souliot Women"). Today, a monument on the site of Mount Zalongo in Kassope commemorates their sacrifice. There is also a popular dance-song about the event, which is known and danced throughout Greece today. [Wikipedia]

Greek Women Imploring at the Virgin of Assistance (1826)

Ary Scheffer: Greek Women Imploring at the Virgin of Assistance

This painting was submitted to the Salon of 1827-1828 and is one of the major works dating from the artist's Romantic period. The motif is taken from the contemporaneous incident of the Greeks fighting their independence from the Turks. In a cave, there is a maiden crying in prayer with her hands clasped at her chest. Several Greek girls beseech with both hands raised in front of an altar where an Icon of the Virgin Mary is placed. Beyond the entrance to the cave are signs of belching powder smoke and fierce battle. Contrary to the tragic theme, Scheffer employs a gorgeous palette of Delacroix-style warm colors to finish the entire image up as beautifully as a gem box. [National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo]

The Death of Géricault (1824)

Ary Scheffer: The Death of Géricault

Despite the great difference in style of these two painters, this is a wonderful and dramatic tribute.

The Death of Saint Louis (ca. 1817)

Ary Scheffer: The Death of Saint Louis

Ary Scheffer was of Dutch and German extraction. His style has been described as "frigidly classical." [Murray, P. & L. (1996), Dictionary of art and artists. Penguin Books]