Count Demetrius de Palatiano in Suliot Costume

Delacroix's portrait of Count Demetrius de Palatiano in Suliot Costume depicts a Greek nobleman in the military dress of the Souliote warriors — Albanian Greek fighters who had become emblems of Greek resistance during the War of Independence. The Souliotes were celebrated in Byron's poetry and in the liberal European press as heroic defenders of Greek freedom against Ottoman power; Lord Byron himself wore Suliot dress and commanded Suliot troops before his death at Missolonghi in 1824. Delacroix's sympathy for the Greek cause ran deep — his Death of Sardanapalus and Massacre at Chios were directly connected to Philhellene sentiment — and this portrait captured a figure who embodied that cause in personal form.

Delacroix renders the exotic Suliot costume with rich, vivid colors and the bold, fluid brushwork that characterizes his Orientalist works. The warm palette and dramatic treatment of the figure's costume and bearing create an image of romantic heroism that captures the Philhellenic enthusiasm of the era.