Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha
by DELACROIX, Eugène, Oil on canvas, 74 x 60 cm
The Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha, which Delacroix repeated in various versions, illustrates the conflict in Byron’s poem, in which the Christian Giaour, an outcast Venetian warrior, is about to slay the Turk Hassan to avenge his mistress, Leila, who had fled from the Turk’s harem. On being recaptured, she was flung into the sea, her punishment for infidelity.