Allegorical Portrait Of Greece

A moving allegorical portrait of a young woman holding her braid, a symbol of attachment to her homeland, Greece, then under Ottoman rule. Her red fez, adorned with gold lettering, evokes this period of occupation, while her gesture of holding her braid conveys the nostalgia for a wounded but enduring national identity. The composition, remarkably simple, reflects the context of European Philhellenism that followed the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829). The young woman's direct and melancholic gaze, the purity of the drawing, and the softness of the palette make it a work that is both political and poetic, emblematic of the Romantic sensibility of this period in the 19th century. Image size: 62 cm x 50 cm. Framed size: 71 cm x 58 cm.